The best books on art reveal a topic that intimidates many: art. Visual art books help demystify the most important artists, art movements, and works of art that have influenced our culture for thousands of years. Yet many people even today feel uncomfortable enjoying and analyzing art. The best art books in this list help readers connect with art on a new level. Whether you’re a seasoned pro looking to upgrade your art history and theory knowledge or you don’t know “Mona Lisa” from Matisse, this list has something for everyone. A collection of the best books about art history, the best books about artists, and the best art books for beginners, and just the best books on art period, this roundup of the first-rate visual art books has something for everyone.
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And now for the best art books on artists and art history…
The Annotated Mona Lisa by Carol Strickland
Contrary to what its title suggests, The Annotated Mona Lisa isn’t a book all about Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting, the Mona Lisa. Instead, Dr. Carol Strickland gives you a solid history of art that breaks down each movement and highlights notable works of art throughout history. Starting way back in the Prehistoric era to the Postmodern, The Annotated Mona Lisa is the perfect “crash course” in art history for the casual art nerd or armchair art historian and one of the titles on this list that qualifies as one of the best selling books about art. You’ll be up to speed in no time after reading this generously illustrated volume, certainly on any list of the best books about art history and definitely one of the best art books for beginners.
How to read it: Purchase The Annotated Mona Lisa on Amazon
Art: The Definitive Visual Guide by Andrew Graham Dixon
If you want to carry all of art history wherever you go, Andrew Graham Dixon’s Art: The Definitive Visual Guide is a good choice for you. Among the best visual art books and one of the top best selling books about art, Dixon’s book contains images of more than 2,500 influential paintings and sculptures across thousands of years and around the world. Dixon’s book takes a global approach, including non-Western artists, and patiently breaks down each major movement in art history so each image you see is situated within its historic, artistic, and cultural context. Owning Dixon’s book is a little like having an art museum in your home and definitely one of the best art books for beginners.
How to read it: Purchase Art: The Definitive Guide on Amazon
The Art of Rivalry by Sebastian Smee
Art begets rivalries. And no list of the best books about art history would be complete without some mentions of the feuds that have fueled the art world. In The Art of Rivalry, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Sebastian Smee reveals four rivalries that rocked the art world and changed it forever: Matisse and Picasso, Manet and Degas, Pollock and de Kooning, and Freud and Bacon. The Art of Rivalry, one of the best books about artists, helps you understand not just why these rivalries were important, but also how these feuds shaped the art world at large.
How to read it: Purchase The Art of Rivalry on Amazon
The Art of the Con by Anthony M. Amore
Who else is intrigued by the long lineage of art fakes? In The Art of the Con Anthony M. Amore takes you on a trip through the most astonishing forgeries, fakes, and frauds in art history. Fascinating and enlightening, The Art of the Con, definitely one of the best art books, is packed with gasp-worthy moments as you see just how close some of these con artists came to tricking even the most expert art historians that their work was worth gold. If you’re looking for one of the best books about art forgery, this is the book you want to read.
How to read it: Purchase The Art of the Con on Amazon
Art That Changed the World by DK
Art history comprises literally millions of works of art, sculpture, architecture, photography, and more. Yet how do you know which ones to pay attention to? In DK’s Art That Changed the World encyclopedia, you’ll learn which art transformed the world. Sure, the “Mona Lisa” and “Starry Night” are here, but so, too, are unsung works of art that shattered the world around them in their time. One of the best books about art history as well as one of the best art books for beginners, Art That Changed the World covers all of art history, from the Prehistoric to the movements of the Modern age, like Pop Art and Cubism. Packed with visuals, examples, and accessible analysis, Art That Changed the World is your first stop on your way to learn art history. I trust DK and have also recommended books by DK in other articles on the site, like my roundup of the 30 best books on criminology.
How to read it: Purchase Art That Changed the World on Amazon
ArtCurious: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History by Jennifer Dasal
Let’s face it… art history can be kind of stuffy. In ArtCurious, Jennifer Dasal (who hosts the ArtCurious podcast) offers a fun adventure through the art world, offering an engrossing narrative chock full of surprising stories and choice anecdotes. They’re all here…from Andy Warhol to van Gogh and Monet as you’ve never seen them. If you’re looking for a fun entryway into art history, or just a book that shakes up those dusty old slides, ArtCurious is among the best books on art and one you’ll want to add to your collection.
How to read it: Purchase ArtCurious on Amazon
Boom: Mad Money, Mega Dealers, and the Rise of Contemporary Art by Michael Shnayerson
In this book, among the best new books about art, Michael Shnayerson leads you down the rabbit hole of modern art dealerships, showing how the rise and power of the contemporary art dealer now drives the world’s biggest unregulated financial market. If you’ve followed some of the more high-profile recent art deals, like Banksy’s “Girl with Balloon” painting that sold for $1.4 million dollars, then shredded itself instantly upon its selling, then the partially shredded painting went on to sell for a record-breaking $25.4 million dollars, this is the book you’ll want to pick up to understand the Wild Wild West of the modern art market, surely one of the best art books for adults.
How to read it: Purchase Boom on Amazon
Creatives on Creativity by Steve Brouwers
In Creatives on Creativity, Steve Brouwers has far-ranging conversations with 44 all-star artists about creativity. Brouwers interviews artists as varied as video game artists, furniture designers, graphic designers, and more. What’s so interesting about Creatives on Creativity is how creativity is unique to each artists. If you came to this article wanting the best books about artists’ lives, or even just more cool art books, this book should be at the top of your to-be-read (TBR) pile. Creatives on Creativity is a nice coffee table book or a good read to pick up and put down again in easily digestible chunks. This one belongs on any list of the best books about artists.
How to read it: Purchase Creatives on Creativity on Amazon
The Gallery of Miracles and Madness by Charlie English
One of the best books about art history, The Gallery of Miracles and Madness tells the chilling story of how Hitler sought to eradicate modern art after his failed career as a painter. World War I veteran Hans Prinzhorn was an enormously particular art collector whose private collection housed prized paintings and works of art. Prinzhorn’s efforts attracted a wide spectrum of followers, including Max Ernst and Salvador DalÃ. One way that Prinzhorn was groundbreaking was his connection between art and the mentally ill, advocating for madness to be given a chance at expression. But it wasn’t long before Hitler set his sights on Prinzhorn and his efforts to bridge the gap between mental illness and art. Hitler started an all-out war on both artists and the mentally ill. The Gallery of Miracles and Madness resurrects this shocking story that’s been forgotten for too long in any list of the must-read best art books.
How to read it: Purchase The Gallery of Miracles and Madness on Amazon
How Do We Look by Mary Beard
If you’re looking to kick your art history knowledge up a notch, read Mary Beard’s How Do We Look, among the best art books for adults. A Professor of Classics at Cambridge University, Mary Beard has written a number of books for everyday readers. Each Beard book is like an appealing—and entertaining—seminar in Classics and art history. In How Do We Look, earning top marks as one of the best books about art history, Beard uses art theory as a way to trace how do we look: both “How do we look,” as in, how do we look at art, and “How do we look,” as in, what do we look like. In particular, Beard focuses on works of art from Ancient History and also highlights the role religion has played in art history. Lavishly illustrated with full-color photographs, How Do We Look is an intellectual, cultural, and visual treat and among the best art criticism books and best art books in general.
How to read it: Purchase How Do We Look on Amazon
Just My Type by Simon Garfield
When we think about art, we often go straight to thinking about paintings, drawings, and sculpture, among other artistic mediums. In Just My Type, pop nonfiction author Simon Garfield reveals the world typeface and fonts in one of the best books about art and design. In each chapter of Just My Type, definitely one of the cool art books, Garfield analyzes the influence of some of the most recognizable fonts we see and use every day, like Helvetica and the dreaded Comic Sans. Garfield also looks at how fonts and power go hand in hand, like Obama’s beloved Gotham, and features the long-buried histories of the designers behind the world’s most impactful and recognizable fonts. It’s a fun, irreverent, and enjoyable frolic through the history of fonts and earns its spot on this list of the best art books.
How to read it: Purchase Just My Type on Amazon
The Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasar
This book is a culturally and historically important work of art itself and one of the best selling books about art, not to mention one of the best art books of all time. In The Lives of the Artists, 16th century Italian architect and painter Giorgio Vasari brought us arguably the first book of art history. In The Lives of the Artists, Vasari reports on the biographies of the Renaissance’s greatest artists, like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, to name just a few. The result is a thrilling, eye-opening, and comprehensive tour through the lives of some of the most earth-shattering artists, along with those who deserve more praise, from someone living in their time, definitely ranking of ay list of the best art books for adults. The Lives of the Artists is certainly high up there on any ranking of the best books about artists. Read more about this important book on its Wikipedia page.
How to read it: Purchase The Lives of the Artists on Amazon
Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel
Though this book is one of the best new books about art, it already ranks among the best art books. In Ninth Street Women, Mary Gabriel delivers a riveting story of five female artists who shook up the nineteenth century’s boys club of modern abstract art. Stepping out of the shadows from being muses and into being distinguished and significant artists in their own right, Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthale all shattered the glass ceiling of the art world and paved the way for women artists to come. Read all about how they shook up the system in Mary Gabriel’s epic, readable account, Ninth Street Women, easily one of the best books about art history.
How to read it: Purchase Ninth Street Women on Amazon
On Photography by Susan Sontag
In On Photography, eminent cultural critic Susan Sontag has written one of the most notable visual art books for the ages. This complex, intellectual, yet rewarding look at the theoretical implications of the art of photography is still important decades after she wrote it and counts as one of the best art criticism books. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism, On Photography (1977) is an essential book for anyone looking to learn more about art criticism and theory and surely one of the best art books of all time.
How to read it: Purchase On Photography on Amazon
Picasso’s War: How Modern Art Came to America by Hugh Eakin
In Picasso’s War, one of the best new books about art, Hugh Eakins traces the history of how Picasso—and Modern Art—crossed the pond and found a new epicenter in America. In January 1939, Picasso was beloved in Europe and widely despised in America, but major events over the next few years saw this momentous artist, a major leader in the Parisian avant-garde, accepted and even celebrated overseas, paving the way for other revolutionary artists to find a new home in America, particularly New York City. Eakins focuses on two Americans who helped shepherd the transfer, American lawyer John Quinn, who built a formidable collection of Picassos, and Alfred H. Barr, Jr., an ambitious director of New York’s emerging Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) at age twenty-seven. Together, Quinn and Barr attempted to get as many Picasso paintings out of Europe as the Nazis rose in power. With war as its backdrop, MoMA revealed the Picasso: Forty Years of His Art exhibit from November 15, 1939 to January 7, 1940. (Read more on MoMa’s website), which singularly relocated the seat of Modern Art from Paris to New York. This book is a landmark work that sheds light on a most insurgent, trailblazing exhibit that changed the art world forever and has already earned its spot on any list of the best books about art history.
How to read it: Purchase Picasso’s War on Amazon
The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair
Certainly deserving of a spot on this list of the best art books and also ranking high as among the best new books about art is Kassia St. Clair’s The Secret Lives of Color. This book takes you on a tour of the rainbow, with stops at each shade along the way. In this captivating book that is easily digestible, Kassia St. Clair highlights shades of color that have been famous or innovative for a reason. You’ll make stops at ivory, amber, Amaranth, scarlet, dragon’s blood, and cobalt, among many others in this trip through the spectrum of color in The Secret Lives of Color, one of the best art books for beginners. Each entry offers the often times surprising cultural, historical, artistic and at times political backstories to the various entries on the color spectrum. The result? Not only one of the top visual art books, but also one of the best books about art history.
How to read it: Purchase The Secret Lives of Color on Amazon
Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton
Have you ever wondered what the art world is like? Whether you’ve always dreamed of curating an exhibit, or working as a tastemaker finding the most promising new artists, or auctioning off art at Sothebys, or even just selling tickets at the museum, Sarah Thornton’s Seven Days in the Art World is the read you’ve been looking for all along, especially if you’re looking for the best art books. This edifying account of seven days in the world of Modern Art takes you behind the scenes of the art world, from debates in the halls of Artforum magazine to a Christie’s auction. Seven Days in the Art World is your backstage pass to all things art in our contemporary world and one of the best books on art.
How to read it: Purchase Seven Days in the Art World on Amazon
Ways of Seeing by John Berger
This classic work about visual studies is a must-read for everyone who wants to take their art knowledge to the next level and a must-read best art books for beginners. John Berger’s Ways of Seeing was first published in 1990 in tandem with a BBC show that shares its name (which you can watch on YouTube for free). It is both one of the best selling books about art and one of the best art criticism books. Ways of Seeing will change your approach to looking at art. At a slim 176 pages, you can also get a taste of the book online here. What’s clear is your approach to looking at art and analyzing it will never be the same after reading this book, for sure one of the best books about art history and the best art books of all time.
How to read it: Purchase Ways of Seeing on Amazon
What Are You Looking At? by Will Gompertz
This book claims to be a “Map of Modern Art,” and… it delivers! An enjoyable romp through the last 150-ish years in Modern Art, Will Gompertz’s book makes art fun again that more than deserves to be called one of the best books about art history. In this charming book, former director of the Tate Modern and BBC arts editor Gompertz lends an expert yet approachable voice. Among the top visual art books, Gompertz distills the mystery of Modern Art, patiently illuminating how and why certain works of art revolutionized the art world and the historical significance of the major schools of art in the modern era. The result? An entertaining and novel way to appreciate art and a top book that ranks as one the best art books for beginners.
How to read it: Purchase What Are You Looking At? on Amazon
The World According to Color by James Fox
For sure one of the best art books, The World According to Color is essential reading and a newer title on this list, making it among the best new books about art. James Fox analyses the way that humans connect with color. Fox takes us on a deep dive through seven primary colors—black, red, yellow, blue, white, purple, and green—and draws out common themes for how we relate to each shade. For example, for “Red” Fox discusses the color’s association with blood offerings while for “White,” Fox explores how purity and innocence came to be associated with the shade. Never dense, always alluring, The World According to Color is a must read for any lists of the best books about art history and, of course, cool art books.
