5 Art Books to Start the New Year

Actress Emma Thompson once said, “I think books are like people, in the sense that they’ll turn up in your life when you most need them.” During 2020, many people turned (and returned) to books as a source of entertainment and comfort. Books are now finding us in an age of near-constant connectedness, whether it be television, radio, social media, and, most recently, Zoom. With more options than ever to indulge in, how much of the media that we consume do we actually choose? It’s important, vital even, to unplug and feed our imaginations with stories that we select—not those the algorithm places on our newsfeeds. The magic of books is their ability to shift focus away from the day-to-day, allowing us to understand our own place in the world by exploring someone else’s. Whether you’re a lifelong bookworm, or just looking to ride out the winter months with a trusty novel by the fireside, this list will offer a much-needed respite—and perhaps spark some inspiration and creativity. In no particular order, here are Art New England’s suggestions on a favored topic—art books—to enjoy in the new year.

The Art of Behaving Badly is a first-of-its-kind collection, detailing the expansive career of the Guerrilla Girls from 1985 to present day. The book is filled to the brim with explosive calls to action, staggering statistics and graphs, and public callouts of the art world elite—all in the name of intersectional feminism, multiculturalism, and equity. The activism of the Guerrilla Girls permeates and openly defies all aspects of popular culture where homogeneity (specifically white, male, and heterosexual-centered media) is celebrated and considered the norm. The collection features some of the Guerrilla Girls’ greatest examples of what they call “creative complaining”—such as leaving a pointed postcard on the toilet seat of a renowned Los Angeles art collector, showing up uninvited to the Whitney’s reopening in 2015 to project a “special message” on the side of the building, and taking over billboards and bus stops across New York City. In addition, readers will be wowed by the crisp images and brightly colored artwork that pop from the pages. If the past several decades have taught the art world anything, it’s that the Guerrilla Girls will always remain relevant. The Art of Behaving Badly is a clear reminder that there is still much work to be done to unlearn the internalized biases that contribute to an inequitable system. While the identities of the Guerrilla Girls have never been revealed, The Art of Behaving Badly invites readers to don their own gorilla masks and use their voice and talent to change the world.

Van Gogh’s first great passion of being an evangelical preacher eventually led to his second great passion of painting. While these pursuits are well-known and well-documented, there is a lesser-known third object of Van Gogh’s passion that had constituted his life and career: his deep love of books. In Vincent’s Books: Van Gogh and the Writers Who Inspired Him, author Mariella Guzzoni invites readers to peer into the personal library of the iconic post-impressionist painter. Through extensive research and documentation using letters from Van Gogh to his brother Theo, Guzzoni creates an intimate account of how books helped inform Vincent’s work. Pages upon pages feature colorful works from Van Gogh himself, paired with excerpts from his favorite reads. Guzzoni’s research provides an incredibly refreshing take on one of history’s well-known artists, and presents even common knowledge with a discerning eye and an authentic voice. It is clear from his selections that Van Gogh absorbed a variety of literature, reading works by great minds throughout history, such as Honoré de Balzac, Charles Dickens, Homer, Victor Hugo, Guy de Maupassant, William Shakespeare, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Émile Zola, and many more. As Guzzoni explains, Van Gogh’s voracious reading was not merely a means to collect books, but rather to continually challenge and educate himself. Vincent’s Books: Van Gogh and the Writers Who Inspired Him is a triumph for both Van Gogh fanatics and bookworms alike. To put it simply, in the artist’s own words, “Books and reality and art are the same kind of thing for me.”

Whether or not you believe in creating New Year’s resolutions, it is inspiring to learn about someone who envisioned a goal and went to great lengths to complete it. Take Toby Ferris, for example, author of Short Life in a Strange World: Birth to Death in 42 Panels. At the age of 42 and after the passing of his father, Ferris set out to complete a monumental task: see all 42 surviving panels of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Armed with an extremely detailed Excel spreadsheet of Bruegel’s work, Ferris embarks on a five-year journey that takes him to 22 galleries, 19 cities, and 12 countries across two continents. Ferris approaches Bruegel’s life and work with a keen eye and a thoughtfulness that helps humanize the iconic Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painter. There is also a distinct tenderness that can be noted in Ferris’s writing, stemming from the ways in which he uses Bruegel’s work as a mechanism to understand his own life experiences. The parallels drawn between Bruegel and Ferris himself recur often throughout the novel. The number 42 is especially poignant: the age of Toby Ferris when he started his mission, the number of surviving Bruegel panels, and the age when Bruegel himself was said to have been approaching the end of his life. Many more recurring objects and themes are intricately woven throughout the novel in an almost poetic fashion. Part art criticism, part pseudo-memoir, part introspective analysis, Short Life in a Strange World is a work that will keep readers intrigued, connected, and eager for more.

“There is no set of knowledge or list of techniques that one can master to become an artist. It’s a state of mind, and it’s a decision,” begins Sarah Urist Green in the introduction to You Are an Artist: Assignments to Spark Creation. Chock-full of artist stories and stimulating creative tasks, this is a book readers should keep close, especially during the winter when inspiration can be a finite resource. The tone carried throughout is reminiscent of a supportive art teacher who fostered your love of creating: the one who encouraged you, challenged you, and spoke to your natural curiosity without going over your head. The collection helps readers gain valuable insight from art world giants, specializing in varied disciplines, such as David Rathman, Tschabalala Self, Jooyoung Choi, Pablo Helguera, David Brooks, Robyn O’Neil, and more, while encouraging readers to dig deep and apply the lessons using their personal experiences. According to Green, nothing is off limits when it comes to creating a work of art, and exploring the landscape around you (both external and internal) is the first step. From drawing, painting, and collaging, to meditating, writing, and acting, You Are An Artist holds no shortage of activities to keep readers engaged and inspired. Readers are also encouraged to share their work with a wider audience using the hashtag #youareanartist on all social media platforms. The message behind the book is simple and powerful: everyone can create something that they’re proud of, yet it is unique experiences and perspectives that make the art come alive.

In November of 1930, a then 23-year-old Frida Kahlo stepped off a train in San Francisco. Accompanied by her much older and already famous husband Diego Rivera, Kahlo found herself a stranger in a strange land. This momentous trip to the United States, which Kahlo cleverly nicknamed Gringolandia, sparks a period of immense creative and personal growth. Never before has this period in Kahlo’s life been so well-documented as it has in Frida in America: The Creative Awakening of a Great Artist by Celia Stahr. Stahr’s writing is delightfully narrative-driven, paired with extensive research and direct quotes from Kahlo’s own travel journals. The book itself is engaging enough to read like fiction, complete with vibrant descriptions, rising tension, and “character” development. Frida in America shares the artist’s tumultuous relationship with the United States, trying her hardest to understand how a land with so much beauty and opportunity could also hold so much ugliness. Extreme wealth and poverty, rising racial tensions, anti-Semitism, and more societal issues were a few of the trials that Kahlo faced, in addition to her rocky marriage with Rivera. Yet these struggles gave birth to some of Kahlo’s most triumphant pieces, including Self Portrait on the Border Between Mexico and the United States (1932), My Dress Hangs There (1933), and Window Display on a Street in Detroit (1931). Stahr approaches Kahlo’s artwork with empathy, admiration, and tenderness. The introspective analysis of each piece of work feels genuine and truthful to whom Kahlo was as a person and an artist. Frida in America: The Creative Awakening of a Great Artist is an engaging read that captures the artist’s authentic spirit, and documents a turning point in Kahlo’s life and career.

No matter where you’re reading these days—in a secluded, cozy nook at home, socially distanced in a favorite coffee shop, or perhaps with friends in a virtual book club—these books will provide inspiration, comfort, and joy in 2021. Art New England encourages you to support your local bookstore and pick up one (or all) of these titles. Happy New Year, and happy reading!

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Nicola Alexander is the assistant to the publishers at Art New England.