Books
Sell the Michelangelo or lose 150 staff? The Royal Academy of Arts’s Covid-19 conundrum
Plus, the curator Legacy Russell talks about her new book Glitch Feminism
Ka-boom! How art history is embracing the comic book genre
Publishers looking for ways to draw in wider audiences to the lives and careers of famous artists are increasingly turning to graphic novels
This is America: Grayson Perry on race and class
Plus, Robert Storr on his huge new book about the painter Philip Guston. Sponsored by Christie's
New biography highlights how Philip Guston risked his art-world standing and livelihood
The book by Robert Storr delves into the American painter's dealings with Klansmen and how he wanted “to make paintings you couldn’t count money in front of”
An expert’s guide to Vincent van Gogh: five must-read books on the Dutch artist
All you ever needed to know about the artist, from the story of the ear incident to the definitive biography and best picture book—selected by Van Gogh specialist Martin Bailey
Can’t make it to the Met? Dive into a new book for an unconventional look at the museum's collection
Publication aims to open up 6,000 years of art history using objects as a springboard—but is it worth the effort?
In Pictures | John Cage’s lifelong obsession with mushrooms
A new book looks at the artist and composer's love of all things mycological, including his fungi photograph collection and collaboration with illustrator Lois Long
German library buys 400-year-old album of drawings by European royalty for €2.8m
Art dealer Philipp Hainhofer's 16th-century "friendship book" contains inscriptions from Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II and Cosimo de’ Medici
What has the National Portrait Gallery’s Nicholas Cullinan been reading this summer?
The museum director has been delving into artist biographies, swotting up on black British history and is hoping to finally begin a well-known novel trilogy
Misogyny and making art in the shadow of Jackson Pollock—how Lee Krasner was shut out of art history
New digital publication argues that the late US artist is the “unacknowledged equal” of her superstar husband
Image and impotency: book reveals the palaces and pictures of some particularly hapless Habsburgs
The Mexican Emperor Maximilian, Crown Prince Rudolf and Archduke Franz Ferdinand all came to sad ends, but amassed vast estates and works of art
In Pictures | Yayoi Kusama’s colourful life gets the graphic novel treatment
From naked performances in New York and her relationship with Joseph Cornell to hijacking the Venice Biennale, the Japanese artist is the subject of a new comic book by Elisa Macellari
Biography of the artist John Nash—victim of the Younger Brother Syndrome—redresses the balance
Book shows that John Nash was a remarkable artist overshadowed by his elder sibling, Paul
Why Jeff Koons is so difficult to please, the strange Venice Biennale selection process and which collector is a game changer
A new book by Matthew Israel gives an insider’s view of the art world over the course of a year
New Orientalists: a thoughtful book on the rise and decline of Western artists in the Middle East
There is plenty to enjoy in this account of a group of travelling painters who were not only accomplished but also determined, brave and hardy
Former US president George W. Bush unveils portraits of immigrants in new book
But blowback has been swift against the hobbyist painter, whose immigration policies while in office included the creation of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
The art of tarot, from the Renaissance to today
Tarot has had a resurgence in popularity in recent years. But the iconography of this centuries-old occult practice is constantly evolving with each new generation of artists
Q&A | Vintage photo trove hidden in attic for decades revealed in new book
Alberto di Lenardo’s secret 8,000-strong archive has been distilled into a new publication by his granddaughter Carlotta, who tells us all about it
Extract | Philip Guston’s fascination with the ‘funnies’ was key to developing his distinctive later style
An exclusive excerpt from a forthcoming biography by art historian Robert Storr looks at the influence of comics as well as caricatures that the American-Canadian artist made of his contemporaries
Summer Reads: which books do Oxford librarians want to dip into by the pool?
Bodleian scholars give their top tips for The Art Newspaper Book Club
Roman holiday, 40BC: an in-depth view of the Villa dei Papiri, the inspiration for the Getty Villa
The institution has released an up-to-date account of discoveries from the seaside getaway near Herculaneum, where Roman politicians took restorative breaks—before it was buried by Vesuvius
Q&A | Lisa Tickner on the inspiration behind her book on London’s 1960s art scene
From student sit-ins to the importance of air travel in shaping the art world as we know it
More than the meets the (shifty) eye: book looks at the life of 16th-century polymath Jacopo Strada
Despite the dodgy gaze that Titian attributed to him in his famous portrait, this double volume demonstrates the Italian's important role in cultural history
Q&A | Drawings of ‘eruptions of violence’ against statues fill Sam Durant’s new book
The US artist speaks about his research into historic cases of iconoclastic annihilation
Sex, Soho, cocksure snappers and cigarette money: the making of London’s 1960s art world
A new book by Lisa Tickner, called London's New Scene, focuses on a cast of glamorous characters and gritty drama, with much that resonates today
Alexander Calder, master of time and space: erudite biography captures artist's full ambition
Second volume of a wide-ranging biography gives us the fun-loving, sophisticated man, as his work developed from delicate mobiles to firmly grounded ‘stabiles’
In Pictures | Eva Hesse and Hannah Wilke compared in new catalogue
A selection of photographs, plus the curator Eleanor Nairne tells us how the two artists had a love for liquid latex and were fuelled by grief
Has Yale’s mysterious Voynich Manuscript finally been deciphered?
A German Egyptologist believes he has cracked the code to the enigmatic 15th century illustrated book—but many others have made the same claim in the past and failed
What has the Camden Art Centre director Martin Clark been reading during lockdown?
The curator has been delving into the complex lives of plants and has found “the perfect companion through these strange days”
How the photographer Gordon Parks upended stereotypes of policing and crime in America
As protests over the death of George Floyd continue to rage across the US, a newly released monograph on The Atmosphere of Crime series from the 1950s remains timely