It’s British summertime—the season for publications across the land to make lengthy lists of the books one must take on holiday. There are suggestions for almost every taste, from fantasy, to crime, to romance, to high brow, to low brow, to no brows. However, one segment of the reading population is often neglected by these lists: the book lover who also loves art.
Where are the summer reading recommendations for us? What do you take to read on the beach if the highlight of your year is Frieze week? If you fall into this category, then I have some recommendations for you.
Get The Picture by Bianca Bosker
At the start of this very entertaining book, Bianca Bosker knows very little about the art world. She wants to understand why art matters, why some people pay so much for art and others spend their lives making art that no one might ever buy or even see. Surely, she should be able to find some gallerists, artists, curators and collectors to answer these simple questions? Wrong!
What follows is the hilarious account of Bosker’s attempts to break into the New York art scene. Her journey will take her to art schools, art fairs and artists’ studios, as she wades through all the gross pretension and genuine brilliance that make up the art world.
Encounters with Artists by Richard Cork
Over the span of his career as an art critic, historian, broadcaster and curator, Richard Cork has encountered artists from Pablo Picasso to Sonia Boyce. This gem of book records his frank observations of those meetings.
In an encounter with Damien Hirst in 1998, Cork visits the artist on his newly purchased farm and Hirst, a smooth financial operator, talks of his grand visions for the place. The farm and its surrounding acres cost £160,000, and although Hirst has already sunk £400,000 into it, he has larger plans still. After kindly making Cork a ham and mustard sandwich for his train journey home, Hirst shares with Cork that he’s “going to spend £10 million out here and fill a field with magnolia”. Such details are what art history is made of.
Postcolonial Modernism: Art and Decolonization in Twentieth-Century Nigeria by Chika Okeke-Agulu
Don’t be put off by the academic sounding title. Despite its rigorous research, this book is enjoyably readable. It tells the story of how a band of intrepid art students at the University of Zaria went on to change the face of twentieth century Nigerian art.
These students pioneered the concept of natural synthesis, blending European artistic techniques and subject matter with indigenous artistic practices. Today this would be commonplace, but for artists like Uche Okeke, Bruce Onobrakpeya and Demas Nwoko, raised in a colonial system that derided and demonised indigenous practices, the concept of natural synthesis was radical.
The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild
The premise of this novel is the cherished fantasy of almost every art collector. The protagonist Annie McDee stumbles on a painting in a junk shop, buys it for next to nothing, and it turns out to be a masterpiece by Jean Antoine-Watteau. There’s a whole host of characters, from oligarchs to auctioneers, desperate to get their hands on it. There is a love story too, of course, and the painting itself is a character, making several snooty and entertaining observations about art history.
Jim Burklo
The Bible
This may seem like a wildcard, but reader, hear me out. If vast swathes of Western art traditions draw inspiration from this millennia old book, then it would make sense to be acquainted with the text that inspired iconic works like Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam, Leonardo’s Last Supper, and Artemisia Gentileschi’s Mary Magdalene. And of course, with the spread of Christianity, this inspiration travelled beyond Western shores: Bruce Onobrakpeya’s Fourteen Stations of the Cross is a Nigerian take on this biblical theme, complete with an African Jesus.
So there you have it, a summer reading list for the art lover. It should take you from airports to hotel rooms, pool sides and beach fronts. But, should you be an incredibly fast reader and find that my recommendations don’t see you to the end of summer, you can also make space in your suitcase for Celia Paul’s Self Portrait, Richard Feigen’s Tales From the Art Crypt, and Martin Gayford’s Man With a Blue Scarf.
Get the Picture A Mind-Bending Journey among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See, Bianca Bosker. Allen & Unwin, 384pp, £18, 18 June
Encounters with Artists, Richard Cork. Thames & Hudson, 280pp, one illustration, £25, 12 October 2023
Postcolonial Modernism Art and Decolonization in Twentieth-Century Nigeria, Chika Okeke-Agulu. Duke University Press, 376pp, 129 colour illustrations, £24, 2 March 2015
The Improbability of Love, Hannah Rothschild. Bloomsbury, 416pp, £9.99, 21 May 2015
Self-Portrait, Celia Paul. Vintage, 224pp, £12.99, 7 November 2019
Tales from the Art Crypt, Richard Feigen. Random House, 296pp, £25, 20 June 2000
Man With a Blue Scarf, Martin Gayford. Thames & Hudson, 192pp, £10.99, 15 August 2019