16 books to get lost in · Buying from Amazon UK · Clear filters
A short book that asks you to look again. Berger considers how images, reproduction and context shape what we see, making it an inviting starting point for a curious art bookshelf.
Take a closer look ↗James Payne takes familiar masterpieces out of the museum hush and into lively conversation. A welcoming place to start asking what makes a work of art matter.
Take a closer look ↗Pull up a chair for conversations with David Hockney. Martin Gayford follows the artist’s thinking about pictures, looking and the pleasures of making art.
Take a closer look ↗A broad illustrated survey for readers who want to connect individual artworks with the bigger picture. Follow movements, contexts and ideas across the history of art.
Take a closer look ↗Explore Aboriginal art through Wally Caruana’s account of its forms and cultural contexts. A starting point for looking beyond a narrow Western art-history bookshelf.
Take a closer look ↗What happens when artistic practice meets digital technology? Christiane Paul maps the field, giving image-makers a way to think about art beyond the canvas.
Take a closer look ↗A wider frame for Australian art history, bringing a long Indigenous artistic heritage into view. Read it when you want to rethink where a national art story begins.
Take a closer look ↗A portrait of Cézanne built around Joachim Gasquet’s recollections and conversations. Read it alongside the paintings to approach the artist through the words of someone who knew him.
Take a closer look ↗Barbara Ehrlich White looks beyond Renoir’s immediately recognisable paintings to explore the person and life behind them. For readers who like art history with a human centre.
Take a closer look ↗Go beyond the familiar sunlit paintings and examine Impressionism as a movement. Belinda Thomson offers context for the artists, their choices and the world they inhabited.
Take a closer look ↗Spend time with Lucian Freud’s art through this illustrated volume. A shelf choice for readers drawn to portraiture, the painted body and the intensity of looking.
Take a closer look ↗Susan Owens explores Constable through the rhythm of a year. A fresh way into a painter closely associated with landscape, observation and the changing natural world.
Take a closer look ↗Explore how Basquiat became a cultural icon. Doug Woodham provides a route into the artist’s story for readers curious about the connections between art, reputation and the wider world.
Take a closer look ↗An illustrated encounter with David Hockney’s work. Keep it nearby when you want to explore the artist’s images and the varied possibilities of a life spent making pictures.
Take a closer look ↗Flavia Frigeri introduces Pop Art and its visual world. A compact starting point for readers curious about the conversation between art, everyday imagery and popular culture.
Take a closer look ↗Explore art history through the books that helped form its debates. Richard Shone and John-Paul Stonard guide readers towards influential ideas and the writers behind them.
Take a closer look ↗