Book Club
The Art Newspaper’s Book Club shines a light on art books in their myriad forms and brings you exclusive extracts, interviews and recommendations from leading art world figures. Sign up to our monthly newsletter above
How almost meeting Alberto Giacometti the week he died inspired a new biography
A 60-year “obsession” began when Michael Peppiatt set out for Paris with a letter of introduction from Francis Bacon
Ultimate reading lists
What is the art world reading?
Interviews with writers
Book extracts
Features
Opera singer Peter Brathwaite tells us why he reinterpreted Black portraiture using household items
In his book inspired by the Getty Museum Challenge, Brathwaite recreated portraits by artists such as Georges Trubert and Sonia Boyce
‘A threat to the country’: Pablo Picasso’s police files scoured for new book about his life as a foreigner in France
A new publication looks at the Spanish artist’s alienating experiences as a young man in Paris, including police harassment and stigmatisation as an anarchist
Lucian Freud’s revealing letters—replete with illustrations and doodles— show a different side to his character
A new book brings together letters and postcards that the artist sent his lovers, friends and fellow artists
In Pictures
September book bag: from a queer Claude Cahun graphic novel to veteran critic Richard Cork’s encounters with artists
Our roundup of the latest art publications
Coco Fusco on her new monograph, her activism and why she remains sceptical of the art world
The artist also discusses her “meditation on death”, a film shot around and above Hart Island in the US
An expert’s guide to Roy Lichtenstein: five must-read books on the American Pop artist
All you ever wanted to know about Lichtenstein, from an encyclopaedic career survey to a collection of his unexpectedly witty mirror paintings—selected by the art dealer Irving Blum
August book bag: from a new book of Lee Miller photographs to a ‘sexy’ publication of contemporary Indigenous art
Our roundup of the latest art publications
‘We never even bid one dollar’: Sheikha Al-Mayassa discusses Salvator Mundi and controversy around Damien Hirst’s foetus works in new book
An extract from a new publication about collectors by Dani Levinas features rare insights from the chair of Qatar Museums
The Redstone Press founder Julian Rothenstein explains the benefits of being a small publisher and why he has cut back on fonts
The designer and editor also reveals the famous writers he will be collaborating with for the next editions of his popular diary series
Why there should be pilgrimages to see Carel Fabritius’s paintings and how the Dutch Golden Age offers us ‘the visual speech of life’
The art critic Laura Cumming tells us about her new book interlacing art history and memoir
July book bag: from conversations with collectors to a Ruth Baumgarte catalogue raisonné
Our roundup of the latest art publications
The co-founder of luxury art publisher Assouline on why its books ‘are really haute couture’ and how they will ‘never’ go digital
Prosper Assouline also tells us about doing everything in-house and how 80% of a book is what is on the outside
Nine artists recommend their favourite books for summer
From dystopian biography and intelligent plants to “monstrous mothers” and the underwater world, avid readers share their top tips
From self-portraits and smiles to screams: creating a compendium of art ‘firsts’
The writer and art historian Nick Trend tells us how he chose the art for his new book and why such choices can often be subjective
June book bag: from a record of Richard Wright’s ephemeral paintings to a monograph of Manal AlDowayan's participatory works
Our roundup of the latest art publications
Purple-nosed dogs, a haemorrhoid ‘cure’ and a sunken fleet: a history of dyes as colourful as its subject
Four excerpts from a book by Lauren MacDonald exploring the myths and origins of familiar colours
Q&A: Jeremy Deller tells us about demystifying his work and why he had to ‘interfere’ with his new book at the last minute
The UK artist explains the thought process behind the publication and the joy of “putting in crazy chapter headings”
The art of fiction: how Salvador Dalí’s Toreador inspired my crime novel
A story set in Barcelona plays with the "mirror image" aspects of the Spanish artist's work
May book bag: from a monograph for an underrated Pop artist to a book about Derek Jarman’s Blue movie
Our roundup of the latest art publications
Anna Atkins and the algae: how the first photobook was made in the mid-1800s
In an extract from an essay accompanying a newly published facsimile, Peter Walther tells the story of how this remarkable publication came about
An expert's guide to Keith Haring: four must-read books on the popular US artist
All you ever wanted to know about Haring, from his personal journals to interviews with the likes of Roy Lichtenstein and Madonna—selected by the curator Sarah Loyer
The story behind Sol LeWitt’s rarely seen wall drawings in a medieval tower
An extract from an essay by the art historian Rye Dag Holmboe explains how the US artist’s works ended up in the Umbrian city of Spoleto
April book bag: from a book of contemporary collage to a lavish tome about Mecca
Our roundup of the latest art publications
An expert’s guide to Jean-Michel Basquiat: four must-read books on the American artist
All you ever wanted to know about Basquiat, from his best quotes to an “intimate insight” from his family—selected by the curator Dieter Buchhart
March book bag: from portraits of King Charles III to Marinella Senatore’s light installations
Our roundup of the latest art publications
From Hogarth to Hockney, artists struck by puppy love are celebrated in four recent canine-themed books
Ahead of a new show of dog portraits at London's Wallace Collection, we round-up some publishing treats for you to paw over
An expert’s guide to Hokusai: four must-read books on the Japanese artist
All you ever wanted to know about Hokusai, from a history of The Great Wave to a novel about the artist's daughter—selected by the curator Sarah E. Thompson
Extract | When the Picasso was almost knocked off the wall during a blockbuster show
A new memoir by Patrick Bringley details what it was like to work as a guard at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art
February book bag: from overlooked female Abstract Expressionists to a tome of new and old Black American portraits
Our roundup of the latest art publications
‘That’s not enough’: Willem de Kooning’s advice to a young Wayne Thiebaud
An excerpt from one of Thiebaud’s final interviews, which features in the catalogue of a survey at the Fondation Beyeler, reveals how the US artist arrived at his signature style
What will museums of the future be like? Three key takeaways from a new book
András Szántó spoke to 21 architects about how museum architecture is shaping up, here are some of his findings
Q&A: Jennifer Higgie on her new book about spiritualism and its importance to early Modernist women artists
The former editor of Frieze magazine says the idea that modernity had to be rational, cool and atheist was detrimental to art
An expert’s guide to Johannes Vermeer: five must-read books (and a website) on the Dutch Old Master
All you ever wanted to know about Vermeer, from a “legendary” show catalogue to an illustrated book for kids—selected by the curators Pieter Roelofs and Gregor J. M. Weber