Reissued to coincide with a career retrospective at the Grand Palais in Paris, Nan Goldin's Sisters, Saints and Sibyls is a deeply personal exploration of female trauma and resistance.

Nan Goldin's deeply personal exploration of female trauma and resistance.

Sisters, Saints and Sibyls is a tribute 'to all rebellious women struggling to survive in society.' Focusing on the tragic life of her sister, Barbara, Nan Goldin weaves together a tapestry out of medical records, family photographs and mythical allusions to Saint Barbara to compose a haunting meditation on the mistreatment of female mental health in the twentieth century. Barbara's story is intertwined with Goldin's own descent into, and emergence from, addiction, shining a brutal light on the realities of trauma, abuse and mental illness.

One of Nan Goldin's most important series, this timely publication is set to align with a major career retrospective opening at the Grand Palais, Paris, in March 2026.

Details

ISBN13: 9780500031049
Format: Hardback
Number of Pages: 144
Edition:
Publication Date: 12 Jul 2026
Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd
Publication City, Country: London, United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 20(H)x15(L)470
Weight (gm): 470

Author Biography

Nan Goldin (b. 1953) is a renowned American photographer known for her intimate, diaristic images that explore love, identity, addiction and the LGBTQ+ community. Goldin has exhibited widely, with key shows at MoMA, Gagosian and Moderna Museet. Previous publications include The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (1986) and The Devil's Playground (2003).

Reviews

Indefatigable artist Nan Goldin's Sisters, Saints and Sibyls will break your heart and piece it back together. A tribute to her older sister Barbara, who took her own life at age 18, the artist's deliberate pairing of hospital reports, family photographs, and vignettes weaves together the lives of two sisters amid tragedy, addiction, and rupture. It's... a rare and generous chance for us to sit with some of her most painful memories and meditate on her continued belief in rebellious women, chosen family, and the human spirit, despite it all.-- "Hyperallergic"