Minor Black Figures by Taylor, Brandon

A bold novel about a black painter caught up in the currents of art, faith, and desire.

New York simmers with heat and unrest as Wyeth, a painter, finds himself at an impasse in his own work.

After attending a dubious show put on by a collective of careerist artists, he retreats to a bar in the West Village where he meets Keating, a former seminarian. Over the long summer, as the two get to know each another, they talk and argue about God, sex, and art.

Meanwhile, at his job working for an art restorer, Wyeth begins to investigate the life and career of a forgotten, minor black artist. His search yields potential answers to questions that Wyeth is only now beginning to ask about what it means to be a black artist making black art amid the mess and beauty of life itself.

As he did so brilliantly in the Booker Prize finalist Real Life and the bestselling The Late Americans, Brandon Taylor brings alive a captivating set of characters, this time at work and at play in the competitive art world. Minor Black Figures is a vividly etched portrait, both sweeping and tender, of friendship, creativity, belief, and the deep connections among them.

Author: Brandon Taylor
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Published: 10/14/2025
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9780593332368

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 06/01/2025 pg. 3
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2025
Publishers Weekly 08/18/2025
Booklist 09/01/2025

About the Author
Brandon Taylor is the author of the novels The Late Americans and Real Life, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, and named a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and a Science + Literature Selected Title by the National Book Foundation. His collection Filthy Animals, a national bestseller, was awarded The Story Prize and shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. He lives in New York City.