Art Books That Serve Up Beauty and Depth
Our favorite art books for February, the writings of Claude Cahun, and an imaginative history of Michelangelo and Titian.
What do Kaylene Whiskey and Pyaari Azaadi have in common? Both are women of color whose art can be visually breathtaking and conceptually powerful, with feminist underpinnings — and the subjects of recent art catalogs that we can’t put down. It’s hard to resist the joyous charm of Whiskey’s paintings, while the beauty and strength of Azaadi’s activist art make her publication (featuring an essay by Hyperallergic Editor at Large Hrag Vartanian) a must-read.
Also among the books we’re reading right now is the Equal Justice Initiative’s incisive study of Legacy Sites in Montgomery, Alabama, replete with compelling photographs that illustrate the struggle for racial justice in the United States. I highly recommend Otherhow by artist Joseph Grigley, who is deaf; the book offers an intimate, engaging, and essential record of personal advocacy and art-world ableism.
There’s plenty more on our reading list, and make sure to check out the book reviews linked below.
—Natalie Haddad, Reviews Editor
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8 Art Books to Read This February
The trailblazing sculptural practice of Edmonia Lewis, the birth of modernism in Montmartre, the luminous paintings of Kaylene Whiskey, and Gainsborough’s alluring fashion portraits are among our favorite reads this month.
View the full list
Giving and Receiving: Memoirs of an Immigrant Curator and Philanthropist
Marica Vilcek shares her story in a new memoir, from her early life and escape from Czechoslovakia to her 30-year career at The Met, and the decision to create the Vilcek Foundation to champion immigrants in the arts.
Book Reviews
Michelangelo and Titian’s Rivalry That May Never Have Been
William E. Wallace openly uses what he calls “informed imagination” to explore the relationship between the two masters in his new study. | Olivia McEwan
Michelangelo & Titian: A Tale of Rivalry and Genius by William E. Wallace
Claude Cahun’s Survival Guide for the Ages
A new translation of the French artist’s 1930 memoir is a kaleidoscopic collection of dialogues, sketches, and Blakean proverbs. | Joyelle McSweeney
Cancelled Confessions (or Disavowals) by Claude Cahun
Where Would Contemporary Art Be Without Plastic?
A new anthology on plastics in art reveals the philosophical conundrums and contradictions at the heart of a material the world relies on. | Louis Bury
Plastics by Anne Gunnison and David Joselit
More Renaissance Reads
The Beautiful Pagan Soul of Piero di Cosimo
A new book provides an ideal introduction to a Renaissance painter largely known only to specialists, but who was counted among the most important of his generation. | Ed Simon
Why Are Giorgione’s Paintings So Mysterious, Even Centuries Later?
We know precious little about the painter’s life, and we know even less about his work’s meaning. A new book argues that the artist wanted it that way. | Lauren Moya Ford
