Books

Book Reviews

Curator offers crucial perspective on Hong Kong’s burgeoning 1980s and 1990s art scene in new book

Oscar Ho Hing-kay outlines the growing visibility of boundary-breaking local artists and their responses to the 1997 handover to China

Daniel Szehin Ho1 day ago

31 August 2026

Book explores how the West’s museums of plundered African artworks can be dismantled

Tobias Carroll

14 August 2026

Artist Trevor Paglen’s new book offers timely take on technology’s hijacking of visual culture

Nick Hackworth

13 August 2026

Photographer Melonie Bennett’s debut monograph captures the ‘stupendousness‘ of family life

Rowland Bagnall

11 August 2026

A gripping account of the hunt for the treasure-laden San José shipwreck

Ruth Lopez

11 August 2026

New novel on Gertrude Stein paints a partial picture

Rachel Kubrick

Book Club

The Art Newspaper’s Book Club shines a light on art books in their myriad forms and brings you exclusive extracts, interviews, picture galleries and recommendations from leading art world figures. Sign up to our newsletter and follow us on social media

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Book Club

A bonanza of Bayeux Tapestry books to accompany the blockbuster British Museum exhibition

There is plenty to read about the medieval masterpiece as it returns to England for the first time in almost 1,000 years

Gareth Harrisabout 5 hours ago

1 September 2026

September Book Bag: from Don McCullin’s powerful Vietnam images to a behind-the-scenes dive into Paula Rego’s studio

Gareth Harris

1 September 2026

When Hockney met Betty: new book uncovers mysterious Beverly Hills Housewife in famous Los Angeles painting

Gareth Harris

31 August 2026

An expert’s guide to Anish Kapoor: five must-read books

José da Silva

31 August 2026

Why I launched a new photobook imprint—veteran bookseller and publisher reveals next career move

Simon Bainbridge

12 August 2026

August Book Bag: from a collection of ‘sizzling’ portraits to a survey of little-known US museums

Gareth Harris

Ultimate reading lists

Read all

31 August 2026

An expert’s guide to Anish Kapoor: five must-read books

12 August 2026

Five must-read books on Pan-Africanism and art

7 July 2026

An expert’s guide to Gustave Courbet: five must-read books on the French painter

2 June 2026

An expert’s guide to Marina Abramović: five must-read books on the performance artist

5 May 2026

An expert's guide to Tracey Emin: five must-read books on the British artist

2 April 2026

An expert's guide to Alexander Calder: six must-read books on the US sculptor

3 March 2026

An expert's guide to John Constable: five must-read books on the British painter

6 January 2026

An expert’s guide to the Gothic: five must-read books on the topic

2 December 2025

An expert’s guide to late Pablo Picasso: five must-read books on the second half of his career

7 October 2025

An expert’s guide to Robert Rauschenberg: five must-read books on the US artist

Book Clubblog

about 3 hours ago

September Book Bag: from Don McCullin’s powerful Vietnam images to a behind-the-scenes dive into Paula Rego’s studio

Our round-up of the latest art publications

Gareth Harris

Book Clubinterview

about 4 hours ago

When Hockney met Betty: new book uncovers mysterious Beverly Hills Housewife in famous Los Angeles painting

Author James Cahill's account of the burgeoning 1960s LA art scene explores links between collector Betty Freeman and the late Yorkshire artist

Gareth Harris

Book Clubfeature

about 5 hours ago

A bonanza of Bayeux Tapestry books to accompany the blockbuster British Museum exhibition

There is plenty to read about the medieval masterpiece as it returns to England for the first time in almost 1,000 years

Gareth Harris

Booksreview

1 day ago

Curator offers crucial perspective on Hong Kong’s burgeoning 1980s and 1990s art scene in new book

Oscar Ho Hing-kay outlines the growing visibility of boundary-breaking local artists and their responses to the 1997 handover to China

Daniel Szehin Ho

Booksreview

1 day ago

Book explores how the West’s museums of plundered African artworks can be dismantled

Essay collection documents how artists and filmmakers have reacted to colonialism and pillage in Africa

Tobias Carroll

Book Clubblog

1 day ago

An expert’s guide to Anish Kapoor: five must-read books

With a new show at London’s Hayward Gallery, an expert chooses books that delve into the established sculptor’s life and work over five decades

José da Silva

Book Clubinterview

1 day ago

Why I launched a new photobook imprint—veteran bookseller and publisher reveals next career move

Foxed Editions co-founded by Rudi Thoemmes focuses on overlooked parts of photographic history

Simon Bainbridge

Diary of an art historianblog

Comment | I'm trying my hand at writing an art historical novel—it is the best training in looking I’ve ever set myself

After 20 years of writing non-fiction books, the art historian Bendor Grosvenor is working on a Stuart-era sleuthing novel

Bendor Grosvenor

Booksreview

Artist Trevor Paglen’s new book offers timely take on technology’s hijacking of visual culture

The publication features a collection of essays about how two technological revolutions have transformed our relationship to images

Nick Hackworth

Booksreview

Photographer Melonie Bennett’s debut monograph captures the ‘stupendousness‘ of family life

The photobook captures two decades of often hilarious, sometimes tragic moments

Rowland Bagnall

Book Clubblog

August Book Bag: from a collection of ‘sizzling’ portraits to a survey of little-known US museums

Our round-up of the latest art publications

Gareth Harris

Book Clubblog

Five must-read books on Pan-Africanism and art

The best publications about the subject, from a collection of Surrealist writing to a survey of pioneering architects—selected by Elvira Dyangani Ose and Adom Getachew

José da Silva

Book Clubfeature

What’s it like organising the Venice Biennale? Former curators dish the dirt

Robert Storr speaks about his tenure in this exclusive extract from Massimiliano Gioni’s new book of interviews with biennale artistic directors

Gareth Harris

Book Clubinterview

The author of a new book on Lavinia Fontana’s erotic art reveals all

The Italian scholar Enrico Maria dal Pozzolo tells us about new discoveries and why the Bolognese painter was an innovator in her field

Gareth Harris

Booksreview

A gripping account of the hunt for the treasure-laden San José shipwreck

A new book details the obsessive quest to find the sunken ship and, following its discovery, the various claims to the ship's billion dollar cargo

Ruth Lopez

Booksreview

New novel on Gertrude Stein paints a partial picture

A fictionalised account of an essayist’s exploration of the writer tells us more about contemporary women than the star quality of its protagonist

Rachel Kubrick

Booksreview

‘Art Cure’ book analyses the healing powers of the arts

An exploration of scientific studies on art and health, short-listed for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction

Constanza Ontiveros Valdés

Book Clubblog

July Book Bag: from a selection of US folk art to a closer look at the work of YBA Gary Hume

Our round-up of the latest art publications

Gareth Harris

Booksreview

A new biography looks at how Michael Andrews shifted from slow burner to innovative creator

The School of London artist, equally at home in Soho society and rural Scotland, was also a noted painter of celebrities

Beth Williamson

Booksreview

Joseph Beuys was ambitious, ‘perhaps to the point of megalomania’, says a new book about the German artist

A new reading of the life and work of Beuys is no hagiography, seeing Beuys as someone who was fiercely determined and created myths about himself

David D'Arcy

Booksblog

Our books editor dips into some recent art-historical fiction

Topics covered in the publications range from a Renaissance sculptress and Baroque Rome to 1930s Manchester and Frida Kahlo

Jacqueline Riding

Book Clubfeature

How novelists continue to be inspired by artists

Several books out this summer use art as a springboard—we speak to some of their authors

Chloë Ashby

Book Clubinterview

The worst of us: a philosopher’s guide to the world’s most depraved art

The academic Daisy Dixon discusses her new book investigating the art that has provoked outrage over the centuries

Gareth Harris

Book Clubblog

An expert’s guide to Gustave Courbet: five must-read books on the French painter

The best Courbet publications, from a comprehensive monograph to a look at how he was “a skilful media strategist”—selected by the curators Sonja Pizonka and Anna Brohm

José da Silva

Booksnews

‘It's a work of art’: rare, cloth-bound first edition of Wuthering Heights to be auctioned at Christie’s

The book, estimated at up to £600,000, is the first original edition to appear at auction in more than a century

Maev Kennedy

Book Clubblog

June Book Bag: from the street art of JR to a behind-the-scenes look at the Venice Biennale

Our round-up of the latest art publications

Gareth Harris

Booksreview

Constable, an artist for all seasons: a rich study reveals how his art and life were shaped by the weather's yearly cycles

The 250th anniversary of John Constable’s birth has seen a flurry of publications about the great painter and his work

Anne Lyles

Booksreview

Mystery, controversy and the butterfly’s sting: James McNeill Whistler book aims to dispel the fog around his legacy

The unashamedly partisan book by Daniel E. Sutherland also looks at the science behind Whistler’s nocturnes

Christoph Irmscher

Book Clubfeature

Mapplethorpe nudes, the NEA and the birth of America’s culture wars

We speak to the writer Isaac Butler about his book revisiting the battles over censorship and public funding in the US during the 1980s and 1990s

Dan Schindel

Book Clubfeature

How Andy Warhol’s textile and fashion work influenced his art

Three key takeaways from a new book that looks at the artist's designs for shop awnings, advertising illustrations, screen-printed clothes and more

Gareth Harris

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