Books About Artists and Art

Updated June 13, 2023
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Girl with a pearl earring
Chevalier, Tracy.
Paper Book
Celebrate Tracy Chevalier's modern classic Girl With A Pearl Earring, featuring a gorgeous new edition illustrated with eight pages of Vermeer's masterworks. History and fiction merge seamlessly in this luminous novel about artistic vision and sensual awakening.  The story of Griet, whose...
The art forger : a novel
Shapiro, Barbara A.
Stand-alone player
On March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art today worth over $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history, and Claire Roth, a struggling young artist, is about to discover that theres more to this crime than meets the...
The lonely city : adventures in the art of being alone
Laing, Olivia
Paper Book
Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism #1 Book of the Year from Brain Pickings Named a best book of the year by NPR, Newsweek, Slate, Pop Sugar, Marie Claire, Elle, Publishers Weekly, and Lit Hub<...
The god of endings
Holland, Jakki
Paper Book
"A new kind of vampire story, and the result is a surprising and spellbinding tale." --Laura Moriarty, New York Times bestselling author of The Chaperone "Great for fans of Interview with a Vampire and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue." -...
How to be both A novel
Smith, Ali
Paper Book
SHORT-LISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE WINNER OF THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION WINNER OF THE 2014 GOLDSMITHS PRIZE WINNER OF THE 2014 COSTA NOVEL AWARD  WINNER OF THE SALTIRE LITERARY BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD A Best Book of the Year: NPR, Financial...
The Age of Light: A Novel
Scharer, Whitney
Audiobook
One of the Best Books of the Year: Parade, Glamour, Real Simple, Refinery29, Yahoo! Lifestyle. "A startlingly modern love story and a mesmerizing portrait of a woman's self-transformation from muse to artist." --Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere<...
The color storm : a novel of Renaissance Venice
Dibben, Damian
Paper Book
*The Gold Crown Best Historical Novel of the Year* Enter the world of Renaissance Venice, where the competition for fame and fortune can mean life or death... Artists flock here, not just for wealth and fame, but for revolutionary color. Yet...
All the beauty in the world : the Metropolitan Museum of Art and me
Bringley, Patrick
Paper Book
A best book of the year from New York Public Library, NPR, the Financial Times, Book Riot, and the Sunday Times (London). A fascinating, revelatory portrait of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its treasures by a former New Yorker staffer who spent...
Your brain on art : how the arts transform us
Magsamen, Susan
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A life-altering journey through the science of neuroaesthetics, which offers proof for how our brains and bodies transform when we participate in the arts--and how this knowledge can improve our health, enable us to flourish, and build stronger communities....
The 12-hour art expert : everything you need to know about art in a dozen masterpieces
Charney, Noah
Paper Book
"Brimming with examples from across the artistic spectrum, this is the perfect primer to hook future art enthusiasts." Publishers Weekly Interested in art but feel under-informed? Curious but afraid you might not "get" it? Already a fan and wishing to immerse yourself...
Steal like an artist : 10 things nobody told you about being creative
Kleon, Austin.
Paper Book
Celebrate the 10th anniversary of a groundbreaking book on creativity with this limited anniversary hardcover, with a new afterword, color endpapers pulled from Austin Kleon's sketchbooks, and a ribbon marker. Ten years after its initial publication, the message of Steal Like an Artist remains...
The secret lives of color
St. Clair, Kassia
Paper Book
One of USA Today's "100 Books to Read While Stuck at Home During the Coronavirus Crisis"  A dazzling gift, the unforgettable, unknown history of colors and the vivid stories behind them in a beautiful multi-colored volume. "Beautifully...
Luster
Leilani, Raven
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A New York Times Notable Book of the Year WINNER of the NBCC John Leonard Prize, the Kirkus Prize, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the Dylan Thomas Prize, and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award...
The woman who stole Vermeer : the true story of Rose Dugdale and the Russborough House art heist
Amore, Anthony M.
Paper Book
The extraordinary life and crimes of heiress-turned-revolutionary Rose Dugdale, who in 1974 became the only woman to pull off a major art heist. In the world of crime, there exists an unusual commonality between those who steal art and those who repeatedly kill: they are almost...
Leonardo da Vinci
Isaacson, Walter
Paper Book
Soon to be a documentary from Ken Burns on PBS! The #1 New York Times bestseller from Walter Isaacson brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography that is "a study in creativity: how to define it, how to achieve it...Most important, it is a powerful story of...
The creative act : a way of being
Rubin, Rick
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller. "A gorgeous and inspiring work of art on creation, creativity, the work of the artist. It will gladden the hearts of writers and artists everywhere, and get them working again with a new sense of meaning and direction. A stunning...
The art book
Bugler, Caroline
Paper Book
Learn about key movements like impressionism, cubism and symbolism in The Art Book. Part of the fascinating Big Ideas series, this book tackles tricky topics and themes in a simple and easy to follow format. Learn about Art in this overview guide to the subject, great for...

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