FeatureBook Club
In Pictures | Behind the scenes of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s work wrapping the Arc de Triomphe
A new book looks at the detailed preparations and 60 years of planning behind the work being unveiled in Paris
InterviewBook Club
‘Caravaggio was a major-league asshole’: the long tradition of scandal in art
According to Noah Charney’s new book, infamy in the art world—be it contrived drama to drum up publicity or genuine artistic rivalry—is as old as art itself
FeatureBook Club
Extract | How the colours in ancient Pompeian frescoes ‘spoke’ to Mark Rothko
A new book by the art historian Ben Street attempts to demystify how we look at art and argues for reacting instinctively to what we see
BlogBook Club
September’s book bag: US land protests, English country houses and a feminist history of photography
Our roundup of the latest art publications
BlogBook Club
An expert’s guide to Titian: five must-read books on the Venetian Old Master
All you ever wanted to know about Titian, from a biography fit for a king to an overlooked lecture essay from 1990—selected by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum curator Nathaniel Silver
FeatureBook Club
Extract | How Mayor Rudy Giuliani went from ‘patting on the back’ to trying to pull the plug on Sensation show
Two decades after one of the most controversial exhibitions of recent times, Arnold Lehman, the former director of the Brooklyn Museum, reveals all in a new book
The best books about your favourite artists: ultimate reading list
An expert’s guide to Titian: five must-read books on the Venetian Old Master
An expert’s guide to Sophie Taeuber-Arp: five must-read books on the Swiss artist
An expert’s guide to Nam June Paik: five must-read books on the Korean-American artist
An expert’s guide to Barbara Hepworth: five must-read books on the British sculptor
An expert’s guide to David Hockney: five must-read books on the British artist
An expert’s guide to Yayoi Kusama: six must-read books on the Japanese artist
An expert's guide to Francis Bacon: five must-read books on the post-war painter
An expert’s guide to J.M.W. Turner: four must-read books on the British painter
An expert’s guide to Artemisia Gentileschi: five must-read books on the Italian artist
An expert’s guide to Vincent van Gogh: five must-read books on the Dutch artist
BlogBook Club
The best art books for summer—as recommended by curators, directors and dealers
As we enter the final weeks of the season, check out these riveting reads, from “the best novel about painting” to a book with no words at all
BlogBook Club
August’s book bag: from Polaroids and chats with trailblazing women artists to new insights into Indigenous Australian treasures
Our roundup of the latest art publications
FeatureBook Club
Extract | A rare pamphlet from a historic Black art exhibition by the Spiral collective
The text accompanied the group's only show and is now one of several texts about Black art brought together in a new book Soul of Nation Reader
BlogBook Club
An expert’s guide to Sophie Taeuber-Arp: five must-read books on the Swiss artist
All you ever wanted to know about Taeuber-Arp, from a children’s book full of inspiring projects to a publication exploring the dynamics of artist couples—selected by the Tate curator Natalia Sidlina
BlogBook Club
July’s book bag: from paranormal American art to a history of Stuart architecture
A roundup of the latest art publications
BlogBook Club
The best art books to dive into this summer—as recommended by artists
Whether you are lying on a beach or next to a paddling pool, sit back and let your mind soak up these inspiring reads
FeatureBook Club
Extract | William Blake’s famous flop of an exhibition and the critic who described him as ‘an unfortunate lunatic’
A new book by John Higgs paints a picture of the mixed reviews that the 18th-century artist received and touches upon the “Holy Grail of his lost works”
FeatureBook Club
The birth of auto-destructive art and how Gustav Metzger’s early works lay hidden in his auntie’s attic for decades
Three takeaways from a new publication about the early career of the radical artist
BlogBook Club
An expert’s guide to Nam June Paik: five must-read books on the Korean-American artist
All you ever wanted to know about Paik, from a “deep dive” into a single work to the best biography—selected by the curators Rudolf Frieling and Andrea Nitsche-Krupp
FeatureBook Club
In Pictures | Barkley L. Hendricks unseen photographs gathered in new publication
The US artist’s images are joined by an extract from the book looking at how aspects of his painting and photography overlapped
BlogBook Club
June’s book bag: from Peter Blake’s collages to artists’ solutions to the climate emergency
A roundup of the latest art publications
InterviewBook Club
Q&A | What artists wear and why it matters
A new book by the fashion critic Charlie Porter explores how what artists choose to wear can tell us about the multiple roles of clothing in society
FeatureBook Club
In Pictures | Kara Walker's private archive of works on paper published in new book
The publication is released ahead of an exhibition of the US artist's works at the Kunstmuseum Basel this summer
FeatureBook Club
In Pictures | Gio Ponti’s greatest designs, from chairs to churches
A new book looks at the life and work of the Italian architect and designer, famed for his Pirelli Tower and Superleggera chairs
BlogBook Club
May’s book bag: how Napoleon's plunder ended up at the Louvre, Edmund de Waal's latest book, and a 9kg tome of Chinese art
A roundup of the latest art publications
BlogBook Club
An expert’s guide to Barbara Hepworth: five must-read books on the British sculptor
All you ever wanted to know about Hepworth, from a pictorial autobiography to a collection of her poems, notes and transcripts—selected by the curator and biographer Eleanor Clayton
FeatureBook Club
Sackler family: three takeaways from a new book about the dynasty’s rise and fall
The publication claims Nan Goldin may have been tailed by investigators and reveals how the Met lost out to the Smithsonian thanks to a lack of flattery from its director
InterviewBook Club
Q&A | How a new John Craxton biography began its life in a Soho bar following a funeral
The writer Ian Collins says that after his chance meeting with the British artist his “life changed forever”
FeatureBook Club
The American who brought Modern masterpieces to Iran
A new memoir by curator Donna Stein reveals the story behind the creation of a Western art collection for the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in the 1970s
FeatureBook Club
Will the real Isabel Rawsthorne please stand up?
A new biography explores the British artist’s role in bringing the Paris scene to London and considers how frequent name changes and reinventions muddied her legacy
BlogBook Club
April’s book bag: how four lesbians shaped Modernism, why we love to hate biennials, and a photographic history of African women
A roundup of the latest art publications
InterviewBook Club
Q&A | Guy Kennaway on how his comic novel was inspired by the art world taking itself too seriously
The Accidental Collector features a wealthy heiress, jet setting dealers and a Swiss-owned mega gallery in Somerset… sound familiar?
BlogBook Club
An expert’s guide to David Hockney: five must-read books on the British artist
All you ever wanted to know about Hockney, from the best biography to the artist's “radical” investigations into art history—selected by the critic (and longtime friend) Martin Gayford
FeatureBook Club
Extract | The day Anthony van Dyck received ‘wise advice from the words of a blind woman’—the 17th-century artist Sofonisba Anguissola
New book by Jennifer Higgie gives astute insights into brilliant women artists shut out of art history
FeatureBook Club
Extract | How Sandro Botticelli brought Dante’s Divine Comedy to life
New book by Martin Kemp considers the impact of poet’s vision of divine light on artists such as Michelangelo and Titian
InterviewBook Club
Q&A | Why Alice Neel’s work has ‘extraordinary currency’ today
As a biography on the US painter is republished, its author Phoebe Hoban tells us why Neel’s work is more relevant than ever
BlogBook Club
March’s book bag: from a guide to decoding photographs to a survey of the world’s most celebrated museums
A roundup of the latest art publications
FeatureBook Club
Lyrical Helen Frankenthaler biography and Joan Mitchell catalogue make a splash
New publications cast a light on two formidable women artists and place them at the heart of Abstract Expressionism
BlogBook Club
An expert’s guide to Yayoi Kusama: six must-read books on the Japanese artist
All you ever wanted to know about Kusama, from a detailed study of her Infinity Mirror Room to illustrations for Alice in Wonderland—selected by the Gropius Bau director Stephanie Rosenthal
FeatureBook Club
In Pictures | Rothko Chapel’s 50th anniversary celebrated in new publication
The Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko created 14 paintings for the chapel but did not live to see it completed
BlogBook Club
February’s book bag: Jesus as muse, tips from Douglas Coupland and a reassessment of Mary Wollstonecraft
The latest art publications rounded up in our new book bag section
FeatureBook Club
No great women artists? How Linda Nochlin tore apart the art historical narrative 50 years ago
The feminist writer’s renowned essay ‘Why have there been no great women artists?’ challenged the myth of male genius and called for a new way of thinking
InterviewBook Club
Q&A | Keith Haring ‘had so much drive, was so good at promoting himself’ and artists can learn from him today
The British fashion writer Simon Doonan speaks about his new book on the artist and describes his first encounter with Haring via a t-shirt
BlogBook Club
A brush with… eight artists tell us about the books and poems that inspire their work
Artists including Rachel Whiteread, Ragnar Kjartansson and Roni Horn share texts ranging from 19th-century poetry to postmodern fiction on The Art Newspaper’s podcast
InterviewBook Club
Q&A | Philip Guston’s daughter Musa Mayer on her new book and the uproar surrounding the artist’s postponed show
Although Guston's paintings of Klansmen “remain controversial today” they are also “deeply relevant”, she says
FeatureBook Club
Read what Jenny Saville, George Condo and Victoria Beckham have to say about their favourite Old Master paintings
Exclusive extracts from a new book bringing together texts by 62 cultural figures describing their preferred works in the Frick Collection
FeatureBook Club
The Nazi art dealer who supplied Hermann Göring and operated in a shadowy art underworld after the war
A new book by Jonathan Petropoulos explores Bruno Lohse’s devotion to Hitler’s number two
BlogBook Club
An expert's guide to Francis Bacon: five must-read books on the post-war painter
All you ever wanted to know about the artist, from a deep dive into his chaotic studio to accounts of his exploits in seedy Soho—selected by the art historian Michael Peppiatt
PreviewBook Club
A selection of 2021 art publications—Musa Mayer on her father, Philip Guston; Jean Dubuffet in the spotlight
A monograph on Catherine Opie, an analysis of museums in the 21st century and an overview of Joseph Beuys also make the grade
BlogBook Club
What was the best art book you read in 2020? The Art Newspaper team reveals its favourite publications
From the catalogue for a controversial Guston show to a four-volume tome on Leonardo Da Vinci—and some lighter reads too
FeatureBook Club
In Pictures | Artists' astrological images through the ages
A new book explores the long and changing history of how horoscopes were depicted, from 15th-century Bohemian scorpions to the abstract paintings of Hilma af Klint
BlogBook Club
What was the best art book you read in 2020? The art world’s biggest names give us their top tips
The directors of the Met, Tate Modern, British Museum, Centre Pompidou and more, as well as artists such as Tracey Emin, tell us all about their favourite book—just in time for Christmas shopping
FeatureBook Club
Extract | Why I made Love is the Message—Arthur Jafa describes the inspiration for his seminal film
In a recently published Cahiers d’Art monograph, the US artist speaks about responding to “a tsunami of footage of Black people getting killed”
FeatureBook Club
In Pictures | Andy Warhol's explicit drawings from the 1950s that he never got to publish
New book brings together hundreds of images of nude young men, which “are imbued with an emotional vulnerability that few of his later works exhibit”
InterviewBook Club
Benedikt Taschen: from selling comics in Cologne to hanging out with Hockney
As the Taschen publishing house turns 40, its founder talks about starting out in his parents’ kitchen and the importance of “planting seeds”
FeatureBook Club
Extract | How artist couple Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore resisted the Nazis with their ‘paper bullets’
New book outlines the campaign led by the gender-fluid artists on the island of Jersey during the Second World War
BlogBook Club
An expert’s guide to J.M.W. Turner: four must-read books on the British painter
All you ever wanted to know about Turner, from a “rollicking read” of a biography to a “picture book with a point”—selected by the Romantic period painting specialist David Blayney Brown
FeatureBook Club
In Pictures | The eve of a US presidential election through the eyes of William Eggleston
A newly republished book by the renowned Memphis photographer documents the Deep South in the run-up to the 1976 election
FeatureBook Club
Judge a book by its cover: Centre Pompidou looks at Henri Matisse through a literary lens for new show
One of the most expansive museum surveys on the French artist in 50 years will present his book and magazine designs—and even some of his own writing
InterviewBook Club
Q&A | ‘The looting was a chaotic free-for-all’: Dan Hicks on the pillaging of the Benin Bronzes and colonialism in museums
The curator and University of Oxford professor tells us about his new book, The Brutish Museums, which details how museums themselves were “used as a unique type of weapon”
FeatureBook Club
Extract | The Guerrilla Girls say ‘get mad and keep up the fight’
An exclusive excerpt and images from a new book chronicling 35 years of “creative complaining” by the US-based feminist art collective
BlogBook Club
What has the Goldsmiths CCA director Sarah McCrory been reading this year?
The curator's interests have ranged from artist interviews and books on race, to crime fiction and a biography revealing what Walter Gropius really thought of the English
BlogBook Club
An expert’s guide to Artemisia Gentileschi: five must-read books on the Italian artist
All you ever wanted to know about Artemisia, from the best biographies to a book about her place in early modern feminism—selected by Italian painting specialist Letizia Treves
FeatureBook Club
Ka-boom! How art history is embracing the comic book genre
Publishers looking for ways to draw in wider audiences to the lives and careers of famous artists are increasingly turning to graphic novels
ReviewBooks
New biography highlights how Philip Guston risked his art-world standing and livelihood
The book by Robert Storr delves into the American painter's dealings with Klansmen and how he wanted “to make paintings you couldn’t count money in front of”
BlogBook Club
An expert’s guide to Vincent van Gogh: five must-read books on the Dutch artist
All you ever needed to know about the artist, from the story of the ear incident to the definitive biography and best picture book—selected by Van Gogh specialist Martin Bailey
BlogBook Club
Can’t make it to the Met? Dive into a new book for an unconventional look at the museum's collection
Publication aims to open up 6,000 years of art history using objects as a springboard—but is it worth the effort?
FeatureBook Club
In Pictures | John Cage’s lifelong obsession with mushrooms
A new book looks at the artist and composer's love of all things mycological, including his fungi photograph collection and collaboration with illustrator Lois Long
BlogBook Club
What has the National Portrait Gallery’s Nicholas Cullinan been reading this summer?
The museum director has been delving into artist biographies, swotting up on black British history and is hoping to finally begin a well-known novel trilogy
FeatureBook Club
Misogyny and making art in the shadow of Jackson Pollock—how Lee Krasner was shut out of art history
New digital publication argues that the late US artist is the “unacknowledged equal” of her superstar husband
FeatureBook Club
In Pictures | Yayoi Kusama’s colourful life gets the graphic novel treatment
From naked performances in New York and her relationship with Joseph Cornell to hijacking the Venice Biennale, the Japanese artist is the subject of a new comic book by Elisa Macellari
FeatureBook Club
Why Jeff Koons is so difficult to please, the strange Venice Biennale selection process and which collector is a game changer
A new book by Matthew Israel gives an insider’s view of the art world over the course of a year
InterviewBook Club
Q&A | Vintage photo trove hidden in attic for decades revealed in new book
Alberto di Lenardo’s secret 8,000-strong archive has been distilled into a new publication by his granddaughter Carlotta, who tells us all about it
FeatureBook Club
Art, enlightenment and plenty of sex: life according to John Giorno
Some takeaways from the late US artist and poet’s new memoir Great Demon Kings
FeatureBook Club
Extract | Philip Guston’s fascination with the ‘funnies’ was key to developing his distinctive later style
An exclusive excerpt from a forthcoming biography by art historian Robert Storr looks at the influence of comics as well as caricatures that the American-Canadian artist made of his contemporaries
PreviewBook Club
New Getty publication brings together life-affirming DIY masterpieces made during lockdown
Participants worldwide re-created famous works by Vermeer, Munch and Klimt—using everyday household items
BlogBook Club
Summer Reads: which books do Oxford librarians want to dip into by the pool?
Bodleian scholars give their top tips for The Art Newspaper Book Club
InterviewBook Club
Q&A | Lisa Tickner on the inspiration behind her book on London’s 1960s art scene
From student sit-ins to the importance of air travel in shaping the art world as we know it
InterviewBook Club
Q&A | Drawings of ‘eruptions of violence’ against statues fill Sam Durant’s new book
The US artist speaks about his research into historic cases of iconoclastic annihilation
ReviewBook Club
Sex, Soho, cocksure snappers and cigarette money: the making of London’s 1960s art world
A new book by Lisa Tickner, called London's New Scene, focuses on a cast of glamorous characters and gritty drama, with much that resonates today
FeatureBook Club
In Pictures | Can’t travel to Venice? Immerse yourself in a new book on Turner’s paintings of the watery city
Five paintings and sketches by the British artist selected from a new book
FeatureBook Club
In Pictures | Eva Hesse and Hannah Wilke compared in new catalogue
A selection of photographs, plus the curator Eleanor Nairne tells us how the two artists had a love for liquid latex and were fuelled by grief
BlogBook Club
What has the Camden Art Centre director Martin Clark been reading during lockdown?
The curator has been delving into the complex lives of plants and has found “the perfect companion through these strange days”
InterviewBook Club
Q&A | Would Bauhaus artists have loved the iPhone? The writer of a new book called iBauhaus thinks so
Nicholas Fox Weber tells us what inspired his book and which visionary he would not like to spend lockdown with
FeatureBook Club
How the photographer Gordon Parks upended stereotypes of policing and crime in America
As protests over the death of George Floyd continue to rage across the US, a newly released monograph on The Atmosphere of Crime series from the 1950s remains timely
FeatureBook of the month
Reviewed: Warhol, A Life as Art by Blake Gopnik
Three Andy Warhol devotees give their take on the near-1000 page biography
FeatureBook Club
Extract | Tribal identity, Tories and Tracey Emin: Grayson Perry reveals (even more) in updated book
Excerpts from the expanded monograph include how he was inspired by outsider art and the stresses of building a “Taj Mahal on the River Stour”
BlogBook Club
What has the Wallace Collection director Xavier Bray been reading during lockdown?
The art historian has been engrossed by a spy biography featuring art world personalities, and is taking his first steps with a book on ancient walking routes
BlogBook Club
What has the Whitechapel Gallery chief Iwona Blazwick been reading during lockdown?
The London-based curator has been perusing publications on science fiction, avant-garde cabarets and all things witchy
FeatureBook Club
Extract | The story of Ruth Asawa and the secret gift from her teacher Josef Albers
An excerpt and images from a new biography on the sculptor who studied at the famous Black Mountain College and was interned during the Second World War
BlogBook Club
What has the art world been reading during the coronavirus lockdown? Part two
Curators, directors and art historians tell us about the books they have been reading and revisiting
FeatureBook Club
Extract | The late Peter Beard on being the only photographer to capture Francis Bacon’s work in progress
An excerpt, photographs and collages from the photographer’s re-released book
BlogBook Club
What is the curator Hans-Ulrich Obrist reading during lockdown?
The artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries has been inspired by his daily walks and ‘animal interviews’ to revisit one of his favourite books about trees
BlogBook Club
What is the collector Eugenio Re Rebaudengo reading during lockdown?
The Turin-based art patron enjoys learning about artist rivalries and delving into the Francis Bacon catalogue raisonné, among other things
BlogBook Club
What is the curator Chrissie Iles reading during lockdown?
The Whitney Museum of American Art curator delights in learning about the global culture of the Middle Ages and finds lessons for the future in a Cauleen Smith monograph
BlogBook Club
What is the art world reading during the coronavirus lockdown?
Curators and directors tell us about their new favourite books as The Art Newspaper launches its Book Club