Books
Book Reviews
The best art books of 2025, as picked by The Art Newspaper’s editors
The publications that delighted our literary team this year, from important exhibition catalogues and overdue surveys to personal reflections and playful illustrations
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
The Rembrandt robber: five takeaways from an insider’s book on a notorious art thief
The security expert Anthony Amore provides insights into the curious case of Myles Connor, who stole Rembrandt’s Portrait of Elsbeth van Rijn
Ultimate reading lists
‘Lust for Life’: The Van Gogh book designed to fit in pockets of US soldiers during the Second World War
The Armed Forces Edition novel is now rare, since it was "not to be made available for civilians"—we show you a copy
Driving in Van Gogh’s footsteps: the 1907 book that imagined a dream art pilgrimage
Writer Octave Mirbeau, an early owner of a Sunflowers painting, titled his fictional travelogue "628-E8"—after his car’s own licence plate
December Book Bag: from a photographic record of a lost nightclub to the tale of an accidental art heist
Our round-up of the latest art publications
French novel explores art as seen through the eyes of a young girl
The book provides a fresh—and refreshing—perspectives on famous works by the likes of Georgia O’Keeffe, Van Gogh and Goya
When Masha met Ragnar: Pussy Riot member’s life-changing encounter
In this extract from her new book, Maria "Masha" Alyokhina Alyokhina recalls her first meeting with the Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson
An expert’s guide to late Pablo Picasso: five must-read books on the second half of the Spanish artist’s career
The best publications about Picasso's later years, from an esteemed biography to a book about his animal drawings—selected by the curators Dieter Buchhart and Anna Karina Hofbauer
Comrades in art: meet the artists who fought against fascism
This study of the first decade of the Artists International Association, set up in the years before the Second World War, focusses the group’s impact as well as its lesser-known figures
Pakistani artist Shahzia Sikander navigates her country’s complex past—a new monograph tells her story
An art historian’s book on the Lahore-born artist does justice to both her beautiful paintings and the history that informs them
November Book Bag: from a tome of Japanese printmakers to the first Nina Chanel Abney monograph
Our round-up of the latest art publications
Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun made simple: a lively and informed book for the sound-bite generation
The French portraitist has been repositioned for an entry-level audience
‘Make a lot of bad work for as long as possible’: new book brings you top tips from artists
In Lydia Figes’s publication more than 50 successful artists share their wisdom on everything from defining success to dealing with galleries
How art social media accounts are being turned into books
Having lots of followers on Instagram does not guarantee a publishing deal but it helps
The story of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s brief but dazzling life, as told by an art-world insider
A former Christie’s president examines the meteoric rise of the “radiant child”, and his legacy following his untimely death
Inside Albert Barnes’ extraordinary collection—born from a tough-talking business brain and an egalitarian ethos
A new book delve's in to collection of the physician and chemist, who paid for medical school by winning boxing matches
October Book Bag: from a myth-busting Chaïm Soutine biography to an anthology of Palestinian artists and writers
Our round-up of the latest art publications
A new publication explores how Renaissance Europe viewed and thought about skin
The detailed survey seeks to rethink how people understood, and gave meaning to, the body and its portrayal in the period
Martin Parr steps out from behind the camera lens in informal autobiography
An intimate and chatty biography gives the artist space to reflect on his career in photography and the practice’s evolution
An expert’s guide to Robert Rauschenberg: five must-read books on the US artist
The best publications to learn all about Rauschenberg, from his own “humorous and profound” writings to a book about his fruitful relationships with other artists—selected by the curator Michelle White
‘Ideas move through migration’: Charlotte Mullins tells us why she has taken a fresh look at art from the British Isles
The author's new publication charts the history of the UK and Ireland from the last Ice Age to today
New book looks at how the movies shaped the way we think about artists
We speak to the author of a publication that dissects the way artists from Van Gogh to Frida Kahlo have been immortalised on the silver screen
In a new biography, Vanessa Bell is cast as the Bloomsbury Group's leading light—and as central to 20th-century visual culture
This evocative tale makes a compelling case Bell, who made inroads as an artist and designer at a time when this was rare for women
Museums and ethics, Fra Angelico in Florence, Cornelia Parker’s PsychoBarn—podcast
Unpacking the issues facing cultural institutions today, plus chats about a Renaissance blockbuster and a ”cut-up” architectural installation in Basel
Larry Gagosian on his latest acquisition, a bookstore in the Hamptons
The world’s most powerful art dealer hopes BookHampton will remain a community gathering place
Trial of Gérard Lhéritier, once dubbed ‘the king of manuscripts’, gets underway in Paris
Lhéritier was charged with fraud by French authorities in 2015, and his company, Aristophil, has since been liquidated
What is art for? A brush with… publication reveals artists’ favourite things
We speak to Ben Luke about his book drawn from The Art Newspaper podcast, which includes 25 insightful interviews with key figures such as Doris Salcedo and Ragnar Kjartansson
The 19th-century heiress whose avid collecting was just part of a rich, scholarly life
The exceptional legacy of Lady Charlotte Schreiber, best known for her scholarly collecting of ceramics, is explored in a new biography
Euan Uglow monograph offers a fresh perspective through memoirs, papers and contributions
The book also includes myriad accounts of the British artist's inspirational teaching techniques
Cameras, creativity and kids: Sally Mann on her ‘kind of how-to book’ that mixes memoir with advice for artists
The US photographer, whose images of her naked children sparked controversy, reflects on her life and practice
An expert’s guide to Indigenous Australian art: five must-read books on the subject
The best publications to learn all about the topic, from a concise overview to a ‘stunning illustrated publication’—selected by the curator Kelli Cole and the academic Jennifer Green
A tome accompanying the Lahore Biennale is a celebration of authenticity
This comprehensive reader on the second edition in 2020 considers how the independent-minded institution is placing Pakistan’s artists in an international context as well as helping them thrive in a complex political environment































