{"id":863248,"date":"2024-12-13T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=863248"},"modified":"2024-12-13T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T13:00:00","slug":"the-best-new-art-books-to-buy-as-holiday-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=863248","title":{"rendered":"The Best New Art Books to Buy as Holiday Gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"lrv-a-grid-item a-span2@desktop u-max-width-100p lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<div class=\"featured-image\">\n<figure class=\"o-figure   lrv-u-max-width-100p\">\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  \">\n<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-4x3\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/adobestock_120806799-1.jpeg\" alt=\"The Best New Art Books to Buy as Holiday Gifts\" height width title=\"adobestock_120806799-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-font-size-12 lrv-u-flex lrv-u-flex-direction-column lrv-u-padding-tb-025\"><cite class=\"lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase lrv-u-color-grey\">megakunstfoto &#8211; stock.adobe.com<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"a-content a-content--offset lrv-a-floated-parent lrv-u-font-family-body lrv-u-line-height-normal lrv-u-font-size-18 lrv-u-position-relative\">\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"pmc-ecomm-disclaimer\">\n\tIf you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, ARTnews.com may receive an affiliate commission.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u2019Tis the season, which means it\u2019s time to start racking your brain for gift ideas. But if your list happens to include artists or art lovers, the choice is a no-brainer: Give them a book on art. Whether it\u2019s an artist bio, a novel, or a sumptuously illustrated catalog, it\u2019s bound to be appreciated (unless you\u2019ve seriously misjudged the recipient\u2019s preferences in art\u2014in which case, it\u2019s the thought that counts). Needless to say, there are thousands of titles out there. To help you make the right choice, we offer our recommendations for the best 2024 art books for giving. (Prices and availability current at time of publication.)<\/p>\n<div id=\"pmc-gallery-vertical\">\n<div class=\"c-gallery-vertical-loader u-gallery-app-shell-loader\">\n<ul class=\"pmc-fallback-list-items lrv-a-unstyle-list lrv-u-margin-t-2\">\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<article class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item\">\n<h2>Adrienne Edwards (ed.), <em>Edges of Ailey<\/em>, 2024<\/h2>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/51nnhbondl-_sl1000_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"51nnhbondl-_sl1000_\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/51nnhbondl-_sl1000_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"51nnhbondl-_sl1000_\"><figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Amazon\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tA giant of 20th-century modern dance, Alvin Ailey (1931\u20131989) established a company and a school that are among the premier institutions devoted to the discipline. But these are just part of a legacy fleshed out in the Whitney Museum of American Art\u2019s tribute, <em>Edges of Ailey <\/em>(through February 9, 2025), a multimedia extravaganza encompassing visual art, live performance, music, and archival materials, along with a multiscreen video installation drawn from recordings of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The Whitney also presents paintings, sculptures, collages, and prints by scores of artists that are meant to evoke Ailey\u2019s work and its roots in Black culture. This handsome volume accompanying the exhibition delves deeper into the forces that shaped his sensibility with essays on the Black church, the South, the Great Migration, and queerness, among other topics. The catalog is illustrated with photos that include never-before-published images of Ailey\u2019s life in art.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<article class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item\">\n<h2>Vivien Greene (ed.), <em>Harmony and Dissonance: Orphism in Paris, 1910\u20131930<\/em>, 2024<\/h2>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"497\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/71kz4aiunjl-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"71kz4aiunjl-_sl1500_\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"497\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/71kz4aiunjl-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"71kz4aiunjl-_sl1500_\"><figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Amazon\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAmong the plethora of \u201cisms\u201d defining 20<sup>th<\/sup>-century modernism, Orphism is perhaps the least remembered, but it served as an important link between Cubism and the pure abstraction that would come to define art by mid century. Involving just a handful of artists, Orphism was obscured by the shadows of Picasso and the Surrealists who followed him, yet this catalog, which accompanied a 2024 Guggenheim exhibition of the same name, makes a strong case for its importance. Inspired by the Greek mythological figure of Orpheus, the poet Guillaume Apollinaire coined the term <em>Orphism<\/em> in 1910 to describe a multisensory aesthetic expressed through bright colors and geometric forms. Its adherents included Robert Delaunay, Sonia Delaunay, Franti\u0161ek Kupka, and Francis Picabia, and while their work included elements of Cubistic figuration, it more often featured all-over compositions exploding in kaleidoscopic hues. Featuring rich illustrations and thoughtful essays, this book brings an underappreciated movement back to life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<article class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item\">\n<h2>Herv\u00e9 Guibert, <em>Suzanne and Louise<\/em>, 2024<\/h2>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"508\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/61yfo4tn31l-_sl1000_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"61yfo4tn31l-_sl1000_\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"508\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/61yfo4tn31l-_sl1000_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"61yfo4tn31l-_sl1000_\"><figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Amazon\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tHerv\u00e9 Guibert\u2019s study of his great-aunts Suzanne and Louise has been described as a \u201cgothic novella in pictures,\u201d and indeed, there\u2019s something disturbing about his tale of eccentric sisters sharing a shabby, somewhat isolated existence in a grand Parisian townhouse. Redolent of faded memories and thwarted dreams, Guibert\u2019s story presents the pair in a series of photo-and-text vignettes evoking their claustrophobic relationship. Suzanne, the elder, is the infirm widow of a well-to-do shopkeeper; Louise, 10 years her junior, is a former nun. Suzanne has all the money, while Louise does all the chores and serves as Suzanne\u2019s often abusive caregiver. Suzanne consoles herself with Proust and classical music, while Louise has a fondness for sparkling wines, women\u2019s-interest magazines, and operettas. They cohabitate in a pas de deux of acquiescence and microaggressions, stuck in a daily routine \u201cordered by a terrible, calculated precision.\u201d Originally published in 1980, the book now appears in its first English translation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<article class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item\">\n<h2>Nancy MacDonell, <em>Empresses of Seventh Avenue: World War II, New York City, and the Birth of American Fashion<\/em>, 2024<\/h2>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/715jiwjhgxl-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"715jiwjhgxl-_sl1500_\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/715jiwjhgxl-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"715jiwjhgxl-_sl1500_\"><figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Amazon\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAlthough the migration of the world\u2019s art capital from Paris to New York after World War II is well documented, another, simultaneous shift in the cultural balance of power is less well known: the emergence of New York as a bastion of fashion. While it never quite attained the same dominance that postwar American art achieved, the new American fashion represented a liberation from the influence of French haute couture, offering a casual yet elegant alternative to Paris\u2019s fussier and more formal aesthetic. Nancy MacDonell follows this story in <em>Empresses of Seventh Avenue<\/em>, which focuses on a group of women designers that included Elizabeth Hawes and Claire McCardell. Using the support of the fashion press and the production capabilities of NYC\u2019s garment industry, they pushed a newly informal, adaptable style of dress known as \u201csportswear\u201d to the forefront of fashion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<article class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item\">\n<h2>Jackie Wullschl\u00e4ger, <em>Monet: The Restless Vision, <\/em>2024<\/h2>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"604\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/81y8pxpj0ul-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"81y8pxpj0ul-_sl1500_\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"604\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/81y8pxpj0ul-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"81y8pxpj0ul-_sl1500_\"><figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Amazon\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThis biography of Claude Monet (1840\u20131926) is the first ever written in English, which is somewhat surprising given the Impressionist master\u2019s momentous place in art history and his career afterlife as a source for countless tote bags, posters, coasters, and other museum-shop paraphernalia. Wullschl\u00e4ger delves into the story that goes beyond Monet\u2019s reputation as a limner of haystacks to reveal a man who was a serial self-reinventor given to frequently moving from place to place. He was also unkind in certain circumstances, as in the case of refusing to lend money to fellow artists when he was flush and they were starving. He also filled his famous pond at Giverny by diverting water from nearby farms over the owners\u2019 objections. These sins are perhaps on a lesser scale than those of numerous other artists, but they speak to the rich details with which the author grounds the life of an extraordinary artist.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<article class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item\">\n<h2>Henriette Huldische (ed.), <em>Sophie Calle: Overshare<\/em>, 2024<\/h2>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"541\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/4112sslp4l-_sl1000_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"4112sslp4l-_sl1000_\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"541\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/4112sslp4l-_sl1000_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"4112sslp4l-_sl1000_\"><figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Amazon\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThis catalog for the first American survey of French artist Sophie Calle, organized by Minneapolis\u2019s Walker Art Center, is, like the show, titled <em>Overshare<\/em> for good reason: Calle is something like a Conceptualist high priestess of TMI, voyeurism, and stalking. Since the early 1980s, her photo and text-based works, videos, and installations have exposed intimate experiences\u2014her own and those of others\u2014to transgress the barrier between public and private selves. In this respect, some have credited Calle for anticipating the transparent bubble that is life in the age of social media. Her efforts have included a piece about her grandparents convincing her to get nose job at age 14, only to have it forestalled by the suicide of the doctor involved, and a photo series for which she went undercover as a hotel maid to photograph the personal items of guests. These and other highlights of Calle 45-year career are revisited here in 200 handsomely illustrated pages.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<article class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item\">\n<h2>Miranda July, <em>All Fours<\/em>, 2024<\/h2>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"604\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/81bww31pwnl-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"81bww31pwnl-_sl1500_\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"604\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/81bww31pwnl-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"81bww31pwnl-_sl1500_\"><figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Amazon\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tPerimenopause, the period before the onset of full-on menopause\u2014a liminal zone, emotionally and biologically\u2014is one that\u2019s rarely discussed. Writer, filmmaker, and artist Miranda July tackles it head-on in this tale of a 45-year-old \u201csemi famous\u201d artist not unlike July herself, though the latter insists the book isn\u2019t a roman \u00e1 clef. Her character settles in at a seedy motel while struggling to come to terms with \u201cthe change\u201d: She lavishly redecorates her room and takes up with a younger, married man. She researches the order of hormonal shifts online, masturbates frequently, and of course has lots of sex with her new paramour as if it were her last opportunity for pleasure. <em>All Fours<\/em> is about the mental gymnastics of confronting unwanted change, and how we plot to escape its absolute inevitability.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<article class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item\">\n<h2>Pauline Vermere and Lesley A. Martin\u00a0(eds.), <em>I\u2019m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now<\/em>, 2024<\/h2>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"553\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/71qaiwm5mol-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"71qaiwm5mol-_sl1500_\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"553\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/71qaiwm5mol-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"71qaiwm5mol-_sl1500_\"><figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Amazon\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tSince the Museum of Modern Art mounted its 1974 exhibition \u201cNew Japanese Photography,\u201d interest in the subject has only grown, though discussions have focused mainly on male photographers in Japan at the exclusion of the country\u2019s many females working in the field. That half-century omission is addressed in this survey of Japanese women photographers published by Aperture, which covers 70 years of their contributions to the medium and their considerable impact on same. The volume covers the work of 25 practitioners, revealing a wide, eclectic range of styles and innovations. Among them, Rinko Kawauchi offers sublime, luminous images, including a closeup of a woman\u2019s eye that graces the book\u2019s cover. Mari Katayama presents fairytale-like self-portraits made uncanny by the prosthetic legs she\u2019s worn since losing her lower limbs in childhood. Equally surreal is Michiko Kon\u2019s black-and-white shot of a hat made of yellowtail tuna skin. With images like these, the book fills the gaps in our knowledge about Japanese photography.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<article class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item\">\n<h2>Thea Liberty Nichols and Mark Pascale (eds.), <em>Christina Ramberg: A Retrospective<\/em><\/h2>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/51dmyjzug0l-_sl1000_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"51dmyjzug0l-_sl1000_\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/51dmyjzug0l-_sl1000_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"51dmyjzug0l-_sl1000_\"><figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Amazon\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIn the late 1960s, a group of artists emerged out of the Windy Cindy presenting an alternative to the austere aesthetics of Minimalism and Conceptualism in New York. All graduates of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, they shared in their work a transgressive approach and a propensity for surreal and cartoonish imagery. However, each of these Chicago Imagists, as they were called, was unique, and that was certainly true of Christina Ramberg (1946\u20131995), the subject of this monograph published for her first retrospective in 30 years, at the Art Institute of Chicago. Usually painted in a palette of browns, blacks, tans, and darkened colors, Ramberg\u2019s best-known compositions were equal parts feminist and sadomasochist. They featured truncated female torsos limned as flat forms that included elements representing torn fishnet fabric, bandages, and intrusive clumps of hair. This book offers a comprehensive look at Ramberg and her career as a singular figure in 20th century art.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<article class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item\">\n<h2>Brad Gooch, <em>Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring<\/em>, 2024<\/h2>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"604\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/81mmyl7qcyl-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"81mmyl7qcyl-_sl1500_\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"604\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/81mmyl7qcyl-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"81mmyl7qcyl-_sl1500_\"><figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Amazon\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tA shooting star who blazed across the art world firmament at age 22, Keith Haring (1958\u20131990) first gained notoriety as a graffiti artist before crossing over to become a defining figure in NYC\u2019s downtown art scene of the 1980s. Haring\u2019s dashed-off combinations of hieroglyphics and coloring-book outlines went from street to gallery and finally to auction house, where they now fetch millions of dollars. Cut down by AIDS at age 31, he left behind a legend that rivaled Warhol\u2019s and that of his coeval, Jean-Michel Basquiat. Haring\u2019s lighting-in-a-bottle life and career are recounted in this authorized biography by Brad Gooch, who has previously written books on Flannery O\u2019Connor and Frank O\u2019Hara. Relying on extensive interviews with those who knew Haring best, as well as unparalleled access to Haring\u2019s archives, Gooch creates a definitive portrait of an artist who broke down the barriers between high art and popular culture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<article class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item\">\n<h2>Ann Temkin and Romy Silver-Kohn\u00a0(eds.), <em>Inventing the Modern: Untold Stories of the Women Who Shaped the Museum of Modern Art<\/em>, 2024<\/h2>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"584\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/713sebtlwml-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"713sebtlwml-_sl1500_\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"584\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/713sebtlwml-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"713sebtlwml-_sl1500_\"><figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Amazon\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe Museum of Modern Art ranks alongside the Metropolitan Museum as New York\u2019s premier museum, but according to this book\u2014a compendium of short biographies complied by MoMA curator Ann Temkin and researcher Romy Silver-Kohn\u2014it might not have existed at all without the help of the women chronicled herein. Alfred H. Barr Jr. is generally credited with founding the Modern in 1929, but the heavy lifting to get it off the ground was done by figures such as Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Lillie P. Bliss, and Mary Quinn Sullivan. Rockefeller, wife of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and MoMA\u2019s first treasurer, and Bliss, a textile fortune heiress and MoMA\u2019s first vice president, used their respective wealth to amass MoMA\u2019s initial collection; Miller, MoMA\u2019s curator from 1934 to 1969, used her considerable eye to add to it. The book is a testament to how institutions are built through social clout and professional talent regardless of who wields them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<article class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item\">\n<h2>Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad, <em>Poor Artists: A Quest Into the Art World<\/em>, 2024<\/h2>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"644\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/61vzchxxocl-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"61vzchxxocl-_sl1500_\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"644\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/61vzchxxocl-_sl1500_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"61vzchxxocl-_sl1500_\"><figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Amazon\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tEverybody involved in the art world knows it\u2019s a messed-up place where the chances of success are small. Unlike Hollywood, say, where average ticket buyers determine the industry\u2019s winners and losers, the paying customers for art are a tiny pool of the world\u2019s richest and most powerful people. Needless say, the system is rigged, and it\u2019s given a much-deserved roasting in this art world satire by Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad, who go collectively by the name White Pube. The suitably named protagonist, Quest Talukdar, is a young artist without a trust fund to fall back on who forays into the art world and finds herself struggling between doing what it takes to make it and staying true to herself. Adding to this lampoon\u2019s sting, much of its dialog is based on interviews with real art-world figures, including a Turner Prize winner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<article class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item\">\n<h2>Adam Eaker, <em>Gesina ter Borch<\/em>, 2024<\/h2>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"519\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/71utbhw4wyl-_sl1000_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"71utbhw4wyl-_sl1000_\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"519\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/71utbhw4wyl-_sl1000_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" title=\"71utbhw4wyl-_sl1000_\"><figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Amazon\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAs part of its series dedicated to re-discovering women artists, the Getty Center offers this beautifully illustrated monograph on Dutch Golden Age watercolorist and draftsperson, Gesina ter Borch (1617\u20131681). Half-sister of Netherlandish painter Gerard ter Borch the Younger, Gesina was well regarded and successful in her day, but like many women artists in the past, became largely forgotten over time. Works attributed to her include three albums of watercolors and calligraphy, and two paintings\u2014a self-portrait, and a portrait of her younger brother Moses, whose death in 1667 during the English Civil War cut short a promising artistic career. Additionally, Gesina often served as Gerard\u2019s model, with her likeness appearing in many of his compositions. Author Adam Eaker recounts the legacy of this fascinating if overlooked figure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags \/\/ a-children-icon-bullet lrv-u-font-family-primary u-letter-spacing-012 lrv-u-line-height-large lrv-u-color-brand-primary\">\n<nav class=\"o-nav  lrv-u-flex lrv-u-flex-direction-column lrv-u-align-items-center u-text-transform-lowercase lrv-u-font-weight-bold\" data-dropdown>\n<h4 class=\"o-nav__title lrv-u-padding-r-1 lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase lrv-u-font-weight-bold lrv-u-color-black\" data-dropdown-list-item> Read More About:<\/h4>\n<ul class=\"o-nav__list lrv-a-unstyle-list a-children-icon lrv-u-flex lrv-a-space-children-horizontal lrv-a-space-children--1 lrv-u-align-items-center u-flex-wrap-wrap lrv-u-justify-content-center\" data-dropdown-list>\n<li class=\"o-nav__list-item \" data-dropdown-list-item><span class=\"c-span  undefined lrv-u-color-grey-dark:hover lrv-a-hover-effect lrv-u-font-weight-bold lrv-u-whitespace-nowrap\">\n<p>\tArt Books<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"o-nav__list-item \" data-dropdown-list-item><span class=\"c-span  undefined lrv-u-color-grey-dark:hover lrv-a-hover-effect lrv-u-font-weight-bold lrv-u-whitespace-nowrap\">\n<p>\tEvergreen<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"o-nav__list-item \" data-dropdown-list-item><span class=\"c-span  undefined lrv-u-color-grey-dark:hover lrv-a-hover-effect lrv-u-font-weight-bold lrv-u-whitespace-nowrap\">\n<p>\tgifts<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p> Source URL: https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/list\/art-news\/product-recommendations\/best-art-books-1234635106\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>megakunstfoto &#8211; stock.adobe.com If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, ARTnews.com may receive an affiliate commission. \u2019Tis the season, which means it\u2019s time to start racking your brain for gift ideas. But if your list happens to include artists or art lovers, the choice is a no-brainer: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":863249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61],"class_list":["post-863248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=863248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/863249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=863248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=863248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=863248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}