Books

An expert's guide to Louise Bourgeois: five must-read books on the French-American artist

All you ever wanted to know about Bourgeois, from the artist in her own words to an illustrated book for children—selected by the Hayward Gallery’s Ralph Rugoff and Katie Guggenheim

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Non-conformers? Encyclopaedic guidebook attempts to redefine Outsider art

Lisa Slominski's book expands the canon of "self-taught" and "folk" artists to include Hilma af Klint and the Mexican Muralists

Booksreview

A new visual history of domestic service spanning 400 years examines the lives of those working within the home

From drawings and paintings by Dürer and Velázquez to lesser known images, book puts servants and slaves centre stage

Booksreview

Book reveals the perilous life and times of Stalin’s most celebrated architect

Boris Iofan, a Jewish architect born in Odesa—whose buildings included the Communist behemoth the “House on the Embankment”—built what the dictator demanded, creating architecture as an instrument of power

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New memoir relays a traumatic family history through an intense obsession with a Géricault masterpiece

Book tells a tangled personal narrative through the Louvre's 1819 painting Raft of Medusa

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In Pictures | Ukraine before the 2022 Russian invasion, from holidaymakers in Odesa to the frontlines of Mariupol

Mark Neville’s new photobook—of images taken over the past six years—is a call to action that has been sent to hundreds of politicians and other influential people around the world

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From torture to cream tea: new book chronicles the history of Britain’s castles

Eyewitness accounts from behind the gates of fortresses dating from the seventh century to now bring these imposing buildings to life

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Take a fresh look: a new little history of art offers a global perspective

In her forthcoming book, Charlotte Mullins aims to challenge the “myopic prioritisation of male Western art” in earlier art history publications

Five of the best recently published art-inspired novels

Our pick of new fiction with an art theme, from seasoned writers to exciting newcomers

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Latest volume of Gerhard Richter catalogue raisonné presents the contemporary German master’s vast, vivid output

Sixth book explores the artist’s oeuvre, from the Cologne Cathedral window in 2007 to his last sculptures in 2019

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Book offers overdue estimation of Decimus Burton, an architect of Classical class

The acclaimed 19th-century architect's structures were once described insipidly as having “gentlemanly reticence”

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‘Not art history as usual’: book brings together revolutionary writings by the feminist art historian Linda Nochlin

The 30 essays on realism, Modernism and modernity include seven that have never before been published

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What now? Lessons for the art world in the BLM and #MeToo era

In a new book Farah Nayeri says that “cancel culture” is nothing new, politics and art have always been intertwined—but now it is citizens, not kings and popes, who call the shots

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‘Don’t smudge’: Paula Rego gives a unique insight into her work as she is interviewed by leading artists

The artist's peers, including Tracey Emin and Marlene Dumas, asked the veteran Portuguese artist about different aspects of her artistic practice for a new book

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Q&A | Osman Yousefzada on wrapping a department store and having early works destroyed by his family

The artist and designer tells us about his new memoir, which details growing up in Birmingham and taking his mum to a museum for the first time to see his installation of her bedroom

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New Getty publication on anatomical illustration explores the convergence of art and science

Anatomy has long intersected with art, and artists have been central to creating a market for such intricate works

New book deep dives into the vast collection of W.A. Ismay—the UK’s most prolific collector of post-war British studio pottery

The "professional Yorkshireman" had more than 3,600 pieces including the likes of Lucie Rie and Bernard Leach

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Magnificent two-volume book reveals the sumptuous, Rococo-infused life of Versailles courtier Madame de Pompadour

This comprehensive history of the lady’s obsessive relationship with Sèvres porcelain in the 18th century sheds light on little-known aspects of the industry

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Extract | Surrealism’s tricky global transformation

The art historian Partha Mitter looks at Surrealism’s uneasy relationship with colonialism and primitivism in this extract from a catalogue accompanying a new Tate show about the movement’s worldwide impact

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Laminating, latticing and plaiting bamboo: New book on Vietnamese architect Vo Trong Nghia looks at sustainability and spirituality

Vo’s work offers a fresh perspective on the Western modernist tradition of “organic” architecture

An expert's guide to Picasso's Blue Period: five must-read books on the Spanish painter's early career

All you ever wanted to know about Picasso’s Blue Period, from the definitive early biography to the journals of his “first great love”—selected by the curator Susan Behrends Frank

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New biography of artist Florine Stettheimer looks beyond her seductively bright colours to the social commentary beneath

Thorough research into the American painter’s life and art reveals layers of meaning in her work that have been long overlooked

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Book offering first major analysis of Amit Dutta's work puts Indian film-making in the spotlight

Leading experimental film-maker has exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and London's Tate Modern