Book Review

The life and art of Mabel Nicholson: new volume tells of the career catastrophe of domestic bliss

How lovingly raising her artistic family cost an artist of “tensile strength” her own fame

Skillful new volume explores the contradictory Neo-Classicist, Guillaume Lethière

Seven essays accompany the first-ever exhibition devoted to the Caribbean-born artist who became a leading figure in the French art world

Booksreview

Two publications show how, in Caspar David Friedrich's world, mankind is puny against nature’s power

The German artist's work is pored over in two hefty tomes, one a smart overview, the other a comprehensive guide

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Although it is a ‘sumptuous’ tome, this survey of contemporary public art from around the world baffles at times

The self-proclaimed atlas gives voice to works from often overlooked global-majority cultures but tends to favour mainstream over more challenging works

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Exploring the cultural legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots

A collaborative book project takes a novel approach to examining the impact of the 16th-century Scottish monarch

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Take a romp through Ancient Rome’s great buildings with this handy (almost) pocket-sized book

Ostensibly a guide to the city's top 50 sites, a new publication by Paul Roberts offers far more

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‘Viscerally real’: a Caravaggio painting provides inspiration for a newly translated novel

The Italian scholar Alessandro Giardino posits his theories about the Baroque artist’s Seven Works of Mercy in fictional form

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Who really was John Soane? The man and manifesto behind the magnificent house museum

Former museum director Bruce Boucher’s room-by-room account of the architect’s collection takes far readers beyond the catalogue

Julius Bryant

Teju Cole's enigmatic new photobook is both peaceful and disturbing

The Nigerian American writer and photographer’s intriguing new book comprises a series of indeterminate images absent of human life, interspersed with enigmatic short stories that raise many unanswered questions

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A history of the time that artists (very briefly) ruled Russia

The dramatic twists and turns of the leading figures of the avant-garde during the Russian Revolution

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Surrealist pioneer Eileen Agar's remarkable life

A new edition of her 1980s autobiography brings this vivacious and well-connected artist back to life

Derek Jarman’s home in close-up

An intimate photographic essay by Gilbert McCarragher examines the film-maker’s Prospect Cottage

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‘Shamefully duped’: friend of convicted art fraudster Inigo Philbrick spills the beans in new memoir

In the warts-and all publication, Orlando Whitfield discusses his 15-year friendship with Philbrick while offering insights into the world of art dealing

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From pews to power stations: a history of interwar British architecture that some feared might not be published

Gavin Stamp’s final book offers a fitting memorial to the architectural historian and Private Eye columnist

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Ghosts of America’s ‘Street of Dreams’: a comprehensive book brings the history of New York’s Fifth Avenue to life

Established in the early 1800s, the street was once home to the city’s grandest houses, but many were soon replaced by towering apartment buildings, shops and hotels. A comprehensive book brings this history to life

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Two catalogues reveal how circles of influence were the driving force behind the Northern Renaissance

The books explore the importance of artist and patronage networks centred on the Holbeins

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The story of a newbie who took on the New York art world—then left it all behind

As a protégé of the international dealer Carla Panicali from 1989 to 1992, David Guenther took a crash course in the business of art. But his account of this heady time is ultimately unsatisfying

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A women’s art history that goes beyond the brush and is a call to action

A new publication offers a more inclusive approach that also honours the “unexceptional”

Book Clubreview

The rise of a queer art history: three new publications and the stories behind them

Recently published books aim to bring a deeper understanding of the canon, from the work of LGBTQ+ photographers to the pioneers who paved the way for later generations

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Cities are the heroes in an 'easy-going and unpreachy' publication that takes us on whirlwind tour of art history

Fifteen art capitals are captured at their brilliant apogee in Caroline Campbell's book

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Coenties Slip, the New York street that nurtured artists in the 1950s and 60s, is brought to life in new book

This corner of Manhattan played a pivotal role in the development of artists such as Robert Indiana, Agnes Martin and Ellsworth Kelly

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Pier Paolo Pasolini’s ‘heretical’ writings on painting are spirited and contrarian

The Italian filmmaker—and occasional painter—was scathing about Picasso but delighted in Caravaggio

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From bonnets to ball gowns: inside Jane Austen's well-ordered closet

The author’s voluminous letters to her sister Cassandra reveal her fashion tastes and thrifty skills

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Antonio Canova’s spirited clay sketches go under the microscope in new catalogue

This well-conceived exhibition catalogue illuminates the sculptor’s terracotta models—masterpieces in their own right

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Complex novel echoes the life of pioneering Black American artist Edmonia Lewis

The Somali-Italian author Igiaba Scego's tale of empowerment draws on the artist's journey from Native American reservation to international fame

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Book explores how museums can deal with colonial acquisitions and other problematic issues

A level-headed survey of the rise and fall of anthropological and ethnographic collections and what their futures may hold

From the archive: exploring a London's borough's pixies-to- princesses public statuary

Kensington and Chelsea is home to celebrated statues and hidden pieces

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How Danish design helped shape 1950s American design culture and taste

A new book outlines how cultural affinity helped Danish carpentry’s ‘craftsmanship is king’ ideal conquer the US during the Cold War

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Mina Loy, the mysterious figure who depicted wartime New York’s underbelly

A new publication tells the story of the London-born poet and artist, many of whose works are lost