Books
Book Reviews
A gripping account of the hunt for the treasure-laden San José shipwreck
A new book details the obsessive quest to find the sunken ship and, following its discovery, the various claims to the ship's billion dollar cargo
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
What’s it like organising the Venice Biennale? Former curators dish the dirt
Robert Storr speaks about his tenure in this exclusive extract from Massimiliano Gioni’s new book of interviews with biennale artistic directors
Ultimate reading lists
Artist Trevor Paglen’s new book offers timely take on technology’s hijacking of visual culture
The publication features a collection of essays about how two technological revolutions have transformed our relationship to images
Photographer Melonie Bennett’s debut monograph captures the ‘stupendousness‘ of family life
The photobook captures two decades of often hilarious, sometimes tragic moments
August Book Bag: from a collection of ‘sizzling’ portraits to a survey of little-known US museums
Our round-up of the latest art publications
Five must-read books on Pan-Africanism and art
The best publications about the subject, from a collection of Surrealist writing to a survey of pioneering architects—selected by Elvira Dyangani Ose and Adom Getachew
The author of a new book on Lavinia Fontana’s erotic art reveals all
The Italian scholar Enrico Maria dal Pozzolo tells us about new discoveries and why the Bolognese painter was an innovator in her field
New novel on Gertrude Stein paints a partial picture
A fictionalised account of an essayist’s exploration of the writer tells us more about contemporary women than the star quality of its protagonist
‘Art Cure’ book analyses the healing powers of the arts
An exploration of scientific studies on art and health, short-listed for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction
July Book Bag: from a selection of US folk art to a closer look at the work of YBA Gary Hume
Our round-up of the latest art publications
A new biography looks at how Michael Andrews shifted from slow burner to innovative creator
The School of London artist, equally at home in Soho society and rural Scotland, was also a noted painter of celebrities
Joseph Beuys was ambitious, ‘perhaps to the point of megalomania’, says a new book about the German artist
A new reading of the life and work of Beuys is no hagiography, seeing Beuys as someone who was fiercely determined and created myths about himself
Our books editor dips into some recent art-historical fiction
Topics covered in the publications range from a Renaissance sculptress and Baroque Rome to 1930s Manchester and Frida Kahlo
How novelists continue to be inspired by artists
Several books out this summer use art as a springboard—we speak to some of their authors
The worst of us: a philosopher’s guide to the world’s most depraved art
The academic Daisy Dixon discusses her new book investigating the art that has provoked outrage over the centuries
An expert’s guide to Gustave Courbet: five must-read books on the French painter
The best Courbet publications, from a comprehensive monograph to a look at how he was “a skilful media strategist”—selected by the curators Sonja Pizonka and Anna Brohm
‘It's a work of art’: rare, cloth-bound first edition of Wuthering Heights to be auctioned at Christie’s
The book, estimated at up to £600,000, is the first original edition to appear at auction in more than a century
June Book Bag: from the street art of JR to a behind-the-scenes look at the Venice Biennale
Our round-up of the latest art publications
Constable, an artist for all seasons: a rich study reveals how his art and life were shaped by the weather's yearly cycles
The 250th anniversary of John Constable’s birth has seen a flurry of publications about the great painter and his work
Mystery, controversy and the butterfly’s sting: James McNeill Whistler book aims to dispel the fog around his legacy
The unashamedly partisan book by Daniel E. Sutherland also looks at the science behind Whistler’s nocturnes
Mapplethorpe nudes, the NEA and the birth of America’s culture wars
We speak to the writer Isaac Butler about his book revisiting the battles over censorship and public funding in the US during the 1980s and 1990s
How Andy Warhol’s textile and fashion work influenced his art
Three key takeaways from a new book that looks at the artist's designs for shop awnings, advertising illustrations, screen-printed clothes and more
An expert’s guide to Marina Abramović: five must-read books on the performance artist
The best Abramović publications, from an intimate memoir to a collection of the artist’s aphorisms—selected by the curator Shai Baitel
Book reveals how Chintz—India’s precious textile pattern—became a precolonial global export
The little understood art form is explored in the collected essays of 12 leading scholars
A hated portrait and a forged masterpiece: two new thrillers with paintings at their centre
Oscar de Muriel is inspired by a real Frida Kahlo painting, while Lynda la Plante invents a Jean-Michel Basquiat forgery
Shoot and branch: new photography book highlights the enduring majesty of trees
"Trees of Great Britain and Ireland" offers a handsome insight into early 20th-century botanical photography
The Egyptian Modernist Inji Efflatoun gains international exposure with new biographical collection
The book on the late artist, who was imprisoned for her feminist and socialist beliefs, includes several essays and rarely seen images
Pleasure, parody and propaganda: rethinking the art of illustration in a new history of the genre
From a ninth-century Chinese frontispiece to Marxist magazine covers, this rich tome explores the power of illustration and the ways in which we read such images
May Book Bag: from a guide on entering the art world to a publication about artists influenced by Ovid’s Metamorphoses
Our round-up of the latest art publications
‘A remarkably tenacious motif’: the many faces of Marilyn Monroe revealed in new book and show
Different artists’ takes on the film star are explored ahead of an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London
How the adoption of canvas in Venice changed the way artists painted
Four key takeaways from a new book about the innovative use of canvas in 16th-century Italy
An expert's guide to Tracey Emin: five must-read books on the British artist
The best Emin publications, from her searingly honest autobiography to a collection of revealing snapshots—selected by the Tate’s assistant curator Jess Baxter































