Suggested Reading: A Review of Art Books I Read in 2020
Eduard Vuillard, “Lucy Hessel Reading”
As part of my annual review I have made a list of the art books I read this year or listened to from Audible. One of my favorite pastimes is reading and I mean that in the old fashioned, analog way as in holding a book in my hand. Typically I read at night as a way to unwind from my day.
At the start of 2020 I had intended to read 20 art themed books in honor of the year. I did not come even close to reading that many - which is fine with me as I think we can all agree that 2020 has been a disappointing year anyway.
I did end up officially reading 8 actual art books and listening to an additional 4 on Audible, the latter while painting in my studio. The Audible app, does not unfortunately show when you finished listening to a book, so I am going with these 4 that I know for sure I listened to this year.
Here are some brief reviews of the books I read. I hope you find some among this list that will interest you too!:
The Art Spirit
Robert Henri
Although this book had been on my radar for a while, it took the encouragement of Dennis Perrin during one of his workshops to get me to read it. There are so many nuggets of wisdom and good advice throughout the book taken directly from the notes of various Robert Henri’s students. What an inspiring teacher he must have been! Thankfully we have this book to guide our own artistic development.
Becoming Michelangelo
Alan Pascuzzi
This is the biography/how to manual of Alan Pascuzzi, a dually trained artist and art historian and the discoveries he makes while “apprenticing” himself to Michelangelo, On the journey to uncovering Michelangelo’s technique, Pascuzzi becomes a Fulbright Scholar in order to travel to Florence to study Michelangelo’s drawings in person. Pascuzzi recounts the steps Michelangelo himself took to go from student to master during his apprenticeship with Domenico Ghirlandaio and how we too can replicate the process. Pascuzzi is a good writer with a prose that is light and easy to follow. You won’t be able to put this book down.
Animal Sketching
Alexander Calder
This classic Dover art instruction book is filled with the simple yet beautiful gestural drawings of Alexander Calder. Gesture is something I want to get better at so it caught my eye while I was perusing the NGA gift shop one day. I used it early on in the pandemic to inspire my own gesture session of zoo animals with my son from the comfort of our own kitchen (we followed “live” streaming from Zoos across the country).
The Art of Still Life
Todd M. Casey
This huge, coffee sized table tome is a must have for every oil painter. It breaks down the best practices in painting in simple and easy steps and is filled with clear examples and illustrations. It will inspire you to make your best still lifes yet.
Pro tip - try shopping for it on Barnes and Noble if the price is too high on Amazon. I have found that when a book is sold out on Amazon their re-sellers price it through the roof. Barnes and Noble however continues to offer it at the same old price.
Tissot
Christopher Wood
There was a fabulous Tissot retrospective at the Musée D’Orsay in 2020 which many of you were probably not even aware of. Why? Oh that’s right, because we’ve all been hiding in our houses thanks to COVID!
In case you weren’t able to make it to Paris to see the exhibit in person, this classic 1995 book on Tissot is a good second. I bought mine used upon recommendation by another artist friend (thanks Stacy!) on Ebay. It is a scholarly overview of Tissot and the times that shaped his art. The author even shares the reference photos that Tissot used for some of his most iconic work.
It is a very interesting exercise to compare the references and see how the artist used them in his paintings. I find it is often more telling to see and understand what an artist “leaves out” of his compositions and why.
Vibrant Oils
Haidee Jo Summers
I have been following Haidee Jo Summers on Instagram for a while now and am completely enamored with her plein air paintings. So I was thrilled to see that she had published this book that breaks down her approach to painting. I found it to be well written and filled with many detailed and useful tips down to the brushes and color mixtures she uses in different lighting conditions. For example, here is her advice on broken edges: “You can save a painting that has too many hard edges and is looking very stilted by taking a palette knife to it and breaking the edges. A similar broken edge effect can be achieved by dabbing a crumpled up paper towel over the surface of the painting, letting touches of colour lift up and be used elsewhere. Use broken edges with caution, because if overused, the viewer’s attention will be on the technique you used rather than the message you want to get across in the painting.”
Origin of Inspiration
Samuel Adoquei
Samuel Adoquei can be best described as both a philosopher and and an artist. I had previously read his excellent book How Successful Artists study and knew I would find more words to inspire me in this book. Here is one of the gems hidden within about life’s “detours”. Adoquei writes, “And what if I make the point that the journey that has bought you here was a journey to provide you with the necessary tools so that you would be equipped for the journey ahead and that every turn in your previous journey that you did not expect was a sort of detour - or a blessing in disguise - added to the trip for you to learn from. Whether good or bad, whether you like it or not, everything is meant to help you reach this junction.” This thought has already changed the way I view my own little detours. Adoquei’s wisdom has a way of taking root in your soul.
Currently sold out on Amazon.com. Check the following link for instructions on how to order through Strand Books. The Origin of Inspiration by Sam Adoquei
Changing Images of Pictorial Space
William V. Dunning
If a an art theory book could be the equivalent of taking the little red pill in the movie the Matrix, this book would be it. The author breaks down the progression of spatial illusion in art throughout the ages. Here’s a really trippy thought to contemplate: a person from antiquity would not be able to a visually read or even understand a painting created with post-renaissance conventions of perspective. Why? Because they literally did not see the world in the same way we do now. Simply put, you cannot see what you cannot understand.
Audible selections:
Hold Still
Sally Mann
This memoir by the photographer Sally Mann is made all the more special as an Audible book because the artist narrates it herself. Mann takes you along her life’s journey and explores how formative experiences in her development shaped her work and her thinking. I found myself transfixed by the cadence of her Virginia drawl and her descriptions of the relationships that made up the world around her including a close friendship with painter Cy Twombly.
Old in Art School
Nell Painter
Another memoir, this one by a well published academic scholar who in her a second act in life becomes an art student pursuing both her BFA and eventually her MFA.
Find Your Artistic Voice
Lisa Congdon
Lisa’s first book, Art Inc was all about HOW to go about doing business as an artist. This book is all about WHY. It is meant to help you discover your own artistic voice and highlights the journeys of some who have discovered their own unique identities in various creative disciplines. I liked this book so much I also bought it as a hard copy to work through myself.
Its Never too Late to Begin Again
Julia Cameron
This book is meant to be an updated version of the seminal book The Artist’s Way for creatives in middle age and those facing reinvention in their retirement years. As someone with a teenage son who seems to need me less and less these days {insert teenage eye roll here}, I found that this book resonated with me and has offered me some self reflection on the next stage of my life. Now as part of my own daily routine, I have embraced Cameron’s “Morning Pages” practice of journaling as a way for me to get motivated, organized and uncover my inner most thoughts. And I look forward to eventually tackling another one of her exercises. writing my own memoir one day.