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
The trials and tribulations of putting together Lucian Freud’s catalogue raisonné
The forensically researched volume on the British artist's oil paintings offers a depth of scrutiny that he himself was famous for
April Book Bag: from a new angle on Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel to the re-issuing of bell hooks’s art essays
Our round-up of the latest art publications
New book looks at the shaping of Modern art in the Middle East beyond politics and war
The Arab art specialist Saeb Eigner talks about his comprehensive new biography spanning from 1900 to today
An expert’s guide to Ruth Asawa: five must-read books on the Japanese American artist
All you ever wanted to know about Asawa, from a graphic novel biography to tales from her time at the celebrated Black Mountain College—selected by the curator Janet Bishop
March Book Bag: from a compilation of artist love stories to a polemic questioning morality in art
Our round-up of the latest art publications
Ultimate reading lists
Interviews with writers
Features
‘The painter in me did not die’: novelist Orhan Pamuk turns his hand to art
Notebooks filled with the Turkish author's drawings reflect events spanning the past decade
How a Persian manuscript was swapped for a Willem de Kooning owned by the Iranian government
Oliver Hoare's memoir details the story of the ambitious exchange of an Iranian masterpiece for a painting by the Abstract Expressionist
‘The artist the critics love to hate’: the colourful life of sports star painter and Playboy illustrator LeRoy Neiman
We speak to the author of a new biography that reassesses the legacy of the “hustler” artist who rubbed shoulders with celebrities
What is the art world reading?
Some of our favourite books of 2024—picked by The Art Newspaper’s books team
Our literary editors share what has delighted them this year, from art-themed novels to edifying histories
The top art books of 2023—chosen by The Art Newspaper’s book team
There is something for every art lover among our pick of the publications—from a forgotten 17th-century painter to a lively history of dyes
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
The top art books of 2022—chosen by The Art Newspaper's books team
Struggling for Christmas gifts? Take a look at the publications we enjoyed over the past year—from an exploration of art and motherhood to an interrogation of the culture wars
Book extracts
‘I thought I would be trampled to death’: travelling with Gilbert & George to put on a show in 1990s Beijing
An exclusive extract from a new book by James Birch who helped organise exhibitions for the artist duo in Communist Russia and China
‘An impossible stillness that artists have chased’: Alvaro Barrington on Piero della Francesca’s Baptism of Christ
In this exclusive extract from a new book, the London-based artist explains why Piero’s painting is his favourite in the National Gallery collection
‘He laughed like a madman’: when Édouard Manet decided to touch up one of Berthe Morisot's paintings
An extract from a new book by Sebastian Smee—about the Impressionists during the Siege of Paris and Paris Commune—brings to life the peculiar episode of artistic intervention
Katherine Parr: power, patronage and the first full-length portrait of an English queen
In this exclusive extract from a new book about Henry VIII’s six wives, the art historian Suzannah Lipscomb writes about “perhaps the greatest artistic patron of them all”
‘Have you ever been sat on before?’ What it's like taking part in a (surprisingly) private view
An exclusive extract from a new book by Bianca Bosker that lifts the lid on the secret life of the art world
