art book; collection of pictures
Refers to a published book or album containing reproductions of paintings, drawings, or other artworks. Often used for monographs of a single artist or thematic compilations.
彼女は新しい画集を買って、毎日眺めている。
She bought a new art book and looks through it every day.
I bought an art book of Van Gogh's paintings.
この画集には、有名な日本画家の作品がたくさん載っている。
This collection of pictures contains many works by famous Japanese painters.
彼は初めての画集を出版した。
He published his first art book.
The museum compiled an art book tracing the painter's life.
作品集 is a broader collection that can include any kind of creative work, whereas 画集 is limited to visual art like paintings and drawings.
写真集 is a collection of photographs, while 画集 is a collection of paintings or illustrations, so the two are easy to mix up but refer to different media.
counter for books; counter for volumes · volume; book
Compound of 画 (picture, painting) and 集 (collection, compilation).