About us

DCV – Dr. Cantz'sche Verlagsgesellschaft – is an international publisher of contemporary art books and editions, based in Berlin.

DCV builds on the proud tradition of edition cantz, the renowned art book publisher of numerous standout publications, including the companion volumes for the German pavilions at the 35th and the 36th Venice Biennale, the documenta IX and documenta X catalogues, and monographs on Gerhard Richter, Georg Baselitz, Nam June Paik, Sol LeWitt, Andy Warhol, and other major artists. In addition to contemporary art catalogues and monographs, the program now also encompasses books on photography, architecture, design, and fashion. With a history stretching back over 90 years, which DCV carried on into the third decade of the 21st century, the publishing venture has been closely associated with Dr. Cantz’sche Druckerei, a printing house that produced art books of the highest quality.

Dr. Hugo Cantz and his wife Caroline founded Dr. Cantz’sche Druckerei in Bad Cannstatt near Stuttgart, Germany, in 1933. After the war, their son Walter Cantz, a typesetter by training, took the company's helm. He produced exceptional private prints for Hermann Hesse and portfolios by Oskar Schlemmer and, from 1951 on, published the catalogues accompanying the annual exhibitions of the Deutscher Künstlerbund. Cantz transformed his parents’ printing workshop into an enterprise with clients all over the world; he enjoyed a reputation for excellence as far away as New York, where James Laughlin, the legendary founder of New Directions Publishing, relied on Cantz’s expertise to design and print some of his books.

The trade name edition cantz was introduced in the 1970s as the publishing arm of Dr. Cantz’sche Druckerei. In 1990 the company acquired Gerd Hatje's publishing business; the two were merged into Hatje Cantz Verlag in 1999. Dr. Cantz’sche Druckerei became a subsidiary of Wurzel Mediengruppe, under whose roof edition cantz was reestablished as a separate company in 2018. In fall 2019 Uta Grosenick took over the management of the publishing house, set up an office in Berlin, and launched the rebranding to DCV. In 2021 Uta Grosenick and Martin Holz took over the shares of Wurzel Mediengruppe and made DCV an independent publishing house again.

DCV offers high-quality books and editions of contemporary art and culture, but is also a reliable partner for the production and distribution of your own publication.

Catalogs