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Art books allow you to bring a whole collection of artwork into your home. They make the perfect coffee table accessories, and their glossy images are enough to transfix you again and again. Because art books are usually pretty pricey, Christmas is the best time to snag the volumes you've been lusting after.
From editions on specific artists like Roy Lichtenstein and Ron Mueck to books that describe a movement or trend, these are the best new releases of the year. Some are written by artists while others are linked to specific exhibitions. Here's 24 Art Books We Want This Holiday Season, capturing art, design, architecture, and photography in beautifully bound pages.
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Art Cities of the Future: 21st-Century Avant-Gardes
Click Here To Buy It Now At Phaidon, $79.95
Publisher: Phaidon
Authors: Antawan I. Byrd and Reid Shier
Release date: Sept. 23, 2013
Phaidon's new release Art Cities of the Future moves beyond the traditional culture hubs of New York, London, and Pairs to pinpoint the areas where emerging artists are thriving. The book includes a survey of art in Beirut, Bogotá, Cluj, Delhi, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Lagos, San Juan, São Paulo, Seoul, Singapore, and Vancouver. For each city, eight artists were chosen to represent their hometowns. Phaidon celebrated the launch of this new book with a booth at the NADA fair for Art Basel Miami Beach.
Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes
Click Here To Buy It Now At The MoMA Store, $65
Publisher: MoMA
Author: Jean-Louis Cohen
Release date: July 31, 2013
2013 has been a big year for architect and designer Le Corbusier, from his MoMA retrospective to his endorsements from Kanye West. Celebrate the architect's resurfacing popularity with this book that includes much of what appeared in his MoMA exhibition.
MoMA's new release explores the depth of Le Corbusier's influences across five continents. It includes essays from Le Corbusier experts and contemporary photographs, as well as the artist's sketches, letters, and publications. From his hometown of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland to Chandigarh, India, explore how this architect changed the world landscape forever.
Richard Phillips
Click Here To Buy It Now At Rizzoli, $100
Publisher: Rizzoli
Author: Richard Phillips
Release date: Sept. 3, 2013
Richard Phillips' work has been shown in many collections around the world, and his paintings of sexy women (often celebrities) play with the relationship between art and pop culture. His films have starred big names like Adriana Lima, Lindsay Lohan, and Sasha Grey. Rizzoli captures the essence of his work with a collection of film stills and paintings made from stills.
Mounir Fatmi: Suspect Language
Click Here To Buy It Now At Skira Rizzoli, $55
Publisher: Skira Rizzoli
Author: Lillian Davies
Release date: Sept. 17, 2013
Mounir Fatmi: Suspect Language is the Moroccan artist's first monograph. Fatmi's work explores topics of death, desire, fear, doubt, and consumption through the means of videos installations, drawings, paintings, and sculptures. This book is a part of the publisher's series called "Images Affranchise."
Matt Mullican: Subject Element Sign Frame World
Click Here To Buy It Now At Skira Rizzoli, $75
Publisher: Skira Rizzoli
Authors: John Baldessari, Lynne Cook, Hal Foster, Michael Tarantino, and Ulrich Wilmes
Release date: June 25, 2013
Matt Mullican's work is an ongoing dialogue on knowledge, meaning, language, and signification. He is a multifaceted artist who works in the medium of drawing, collage, video, sculpture, performance, and installation. This book is the first major profile on the artist. The book studies his formation as an artist from his days as a student and traces it into the growth of his best works.
Lichtenstein Sculptor
Click Here To Buy It Now At Skira Rizzoli, $90
Publisher: Skira Rizzoli
Authors: Clare Bell and Ian Wallace
Release date: Nov. 5, 2013
While most know Roy Lichtenstein as the pop artist who pioneered a comic book aesthetic in fine art, this anthology gives an overview of his striking sculptures. The book catalogs the Lichtenstein exhibition at the Fondazione Vedova in Venice (Biennale Arte 2013) that occurred earlier this year. It documents the process of the artist and his sculptural chronology, cultivating a better understanding of Lichtenstein at the culmination of his career.
Tracey Emin: Angel Without You
Click Here To Buy It Now At Skira Rizzoli, $60
Publisher: Skira Rizzoli
Author: Tracey Emin
Release date: Nov. 5, 2013
Tracey Emin's work her delves deep into her personal life and the inner workings of the human mind. Never afraid to put her private life on display, her neon works capture inner thoughts spoken from the heart. Published in conjunction with her retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, this book consolidates Emin's efforts over the years and defines the artist herself through her drawings, paintings, sculptures, appliqués, embroideries, video stills, and writings.
100 Works of Art That Will Define Our Age
Click Here To Buy It Now At Amazon, $36.12
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Author: Kelly Grovier
Release date: Nov. 4, 2013
There are certain works of art that serve as powerful historical and cultural signifiers of their time. From Picasso's Guernica to Grant Wood's American Gothic, these pieces have stood the test of time to remain equally as powerful as when their paint was drying. Although it is impossible to know exactly which pieces of art will survive from our era, Kelly Grovier has put together a list of 100 works of art that have made the greatest impact from 1989 to the present. Grovier's list includes paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, performances, and video pieces from artists such as Ai Weiwei, Marina Abramović, and Takashi Murakami.
Ron Mueck
Click Here To Buy It Now At Amazon, $31.69
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Authors: Robert Storr and Justin Paton
Release date: Sept. 9, 2013
Ron Mueck is a hyper-realist sculptor who creates jarring reproductions of people with incredible detail. While his sculptures are incredibly lifelike, they are always done off scale, either larger or smaller than the real size, creating a tension between the realism of the sculpture and the surrealism of its size.
This book records Mueck's exhibition at the Fondation Cartier in Paris and covers his work in sculpture over 20 years. Featuring photographs of his work, images taken in his studio, analytical essays that study Mueck's art, and an interview with the artist himself, this book is the perfect way to delve deeper into Mueck's career.
Murals of New York City: The Best of New York's Public Paintings from Bemelmans to Parrish
Click Here To Buy It Now At Rizzoli, $45
Publisher: Rizzoli
Author: Glenn Palmer-Smith
Release date: Oct. 8, 2013
Murals of New York: The Best of New York's Public Paintings from Bemelmans to Parrish is more than just pretty pictures of wall art (though it has a lot of that too). The locations chosen, though public, are not your highly populated tourist traps. The edition includes expected murals like the ones at the Metropolitan Opera, the Chrysler Building, and Christie's, but there are also some gems like the public art at the legendary Bemelmans, Bronx General Post Office, and Mark Morris Dance Center. This book contains beautiful murals by Keith Haring, Sol LeWitt, Ezra Winter, Roy Lichtenstein, Marc Chagall, and many others, photographed by Joshua McHugh, along with thorough descriptions of each and information about the sites.
Pretty Ugly: Visual Rebellion in Design
Click Here To Buy It Now At Gestalten , $55
Publisher: Gestalten
Editors: TwoPoints.Net
Release date: April 2012
Pretty Ugly is an ode to art that challenges the popular conventions of what is aesthetically pleasing, creating interesting and forward-thinking designs. This collection of images includes contemporary product design, furniture design, art, and photography that may seem unattractive now but are in fact influencing the way we think and create art.
Miles Aldridge: I Only Want You to Love Me
Click Here To Buy It Now At Rizzoli, $75
Publisher: Rizzoli
Author: Miles Aldridge
Release date: April 23, 2013
Miles Aldridge's surreal and cinematic fashion photographs have captivated viewers for years. His bold use of colors and evocative photography have gained him the respect of the fashion world and landed him positions for icons such as Karl Lagerfeld and many magazines, including Vogue. This spectacular book allows readers a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes action with original storyboards and detailed notes.
City as Canvas: New York City Graffiti From the Martin Wong Collection
Click Here To Buy It Now At Rizzoli, $45
Publisher: Rizzoli
Authors: Carlo McCormick and Sean Corcoran
Release date: Oct. 15, 2013
City as Canvas uses Martin Wong's graffiti art collection to create a visual account for the birth of the street art movement. The book provides historical background on the beginning of the urban expression movement in New York during the '70s and '80s and contains previously unpublished work by street art icons such as Futura 2000, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Christopher "Daze" Ellis, LA II, Lady Pink, and Keith Haring.
It's Modern.: The Eye and Visual Influence of Alexander Liberman
Click Here To Buy It Now At Rizzoli, $65
Publisher: Rizzoli
Author: Charles Churchward
Release date: Oct. 15, 2013
Alexander Liberman will always be remembered for the influence he had on art and fashion. It's Modern. celebrates Liberman's incredible legacy by reviewing his powerful impact on visual culture as one of the world's most dominant editorial art directors and as a respected photographer, artist, and graphic designer. The book provides Liberman's professional projects, personal artwork, and photographs by iconic friends and collaborators to create a vivid account of his career.
James Turrell: A Retrospective
Click Here To Buy It Now At Amazon, $51.49
Publisher: Random House
Author: Michael Govan, Christine Y. Kim
Release date: May 15, 2013
James Turrell: A Retrospective is an in depth examination of James Turrell's expansive body of work, accompanying his exhibition at LACMA. Photographs of his work are paired with analytical essays and an in-depth interview with the artist to create a portrait of Turrell and his work. The book also features a comprehensive look at Roden Crater through models, plans, photographs, and drawings.
PUNK: Chaos to Couture
Click Here To Buy It Now At Yale University Press, $45
Publisher: Yale University Press
Authors: Andrew Bolton, with Richard Hell, John Lydon, and Jon Savage
Release date: May 15, 2013
If you weren't able to make it to the Met's "PUNK: Chaos to Couture" exhibition, you have the chance to enjoy it in all its glory with this edition. Exploring the history and influence of punk fashion, this book is a must-have for anyone interested in fashion design or the punk movement. Since it got its start in the 1970s, punk culture has made an incredible transition from sub-culture to mainstream, but not without some appropriation from the couture world. PUNK: Chaos to Couture celebrates Punk's fierce aesthetic and the new ways of thinking about beauty and fashion that it created.
Chris Burden, Extreme Measures
Click Here To Buy It Now At Rizzoli, $75
Publisher: Rizzoli
Author: Chris Burden
Release date: Oct. 22, 2013
Chris Burden is a formative contemporary artist whose work redefines the art form of sculpture. The New Museum put out this book to be a focused compilation of Burden's art alongside his exhibition of the same name at the museum. Extreme Measures is organized around themes such as myth of the American West, the institution, gender roles, and model making, surveying the themes the artist explores throughout his career.
Hustlers
Click Here To Buy It Now At Overstock, $78.79
Publisher: Steidl
Author: Philip-Lorca diCorcia
Release date: Oct. 2013
From 1990-1992 Philip-Lorca diCorcia went on a hunt to find male prostitutes in LA who would allow him to photograph them. The following year, 25 of these images were displayed at MoMA and it wasn't until 20 years later that the entire series was published. Hustlers sheds some light on the not so glamorous life of the failed Hollywood dream.
The Big Picture: America in Panorama
Click Here To Buy It Now At Chronicle Books, $29.95
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Author: Josh Sapan
Release date: Oct. 8, 2013
The Big Picture is a collection of almost 100, mostly never before published, photographs that take the viewer back to the turn of the 20th century. It was a strange and fascinating moment in American history when photographic technology was developing quickly and American culture was all about positivity and self-acclaim. The most exciting new technology included pictures that could record a 360-degree image, and in this book we see that no public event was too small, too big, too classy, or too tacky for such photography.
The Glory of Water
Click Here To Buy It Now At Amazon, $80
Publisher: Steidl
Author: Karl Lagerfeld
Release date: Sep. 12, 2013
According to Lagerfeld in The Glory of Water, "Each Roman fountain bears witness to human experience. The origins, the locations and the elements of beauty of different centuries are something we can learn a lot from." The fountains of Rome are a microcosm of the rich history that occurred there. Trace back through the history, beauty, and artistry of Rome via the fountains in this book.
Inez van Lamsweerde/Vinoodh Matadin. Pretty Much Everything
Click Here To Buy It Now At Taschen, $1,000
Publisher: Taschen
Authors: M/M Paris, Penny Martin, Michael Bracewell, Olivier Zahm, Bruce Sterling, Antony, and Glenn O'Brien
Release date: Dec. 28, 2011
Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin have shown their photos in galleries and fashion magazines across the world. It's their understanding of both high and popular culture that makes their work so accessible yet artistic. This book is a two-volume retrospective of "pretty much everything" this dynamic duo has done over the past two decades, tracing their ascent to the top of the fashion and art worlds, simultaneously.
Ed Ruscha, Photographer
Click Here To Buy It Now At Amazon, $34.45
Publisher: Steidl
Author: Margit Rowell
Release date: July 2013
From the multi-talented man behind the 1972 New York Times article called "'I'm Not Really a Photographer'" comes a book about his photography. Needless to say, Ed Ruscha is in a complicated relationship with photography. Ruscha is a world-famous painter and considers photography a "hobby" though he seems to have an affinity for the art form. Ed Ruscha, Photographer brings together Ruscha's "hobby" and his other works to show how he is guided by a singular vision that is apparent throughout the rest of his work.
Graffiti School: A Student Guide with Teacher's Manual
Click Here To Buy It Now At Amazon, $18.98
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Author: Chris Ganter
Release date: 2013
Graffiti School was created as an illustrated guide to teach a college level course on the history and practice of graffiti. The book provides a historical account of graffiti from Pompeii to the hip-hop revolution to present day. The book equips you to be a connoisseur of the art form via an understanding of hip-hop vocabulary and vital information. However, its aim is not only to educate, but also to motivate. By utilizing detailed descriptions of the different techniques and methods of graffiti writing, the book inspires beginners to go out and create their own art. Though designed for teachers, Graffiti School gives each reader insight into the practical and theoretical aspects of graffiti.
Central Park NYC: An Architectural View
Click Here To Buy It Now At Rizzoli, $75
Publisher: Rizzoli
Author: Bernd H. Dams and Andrew Zega
Release date: Sept. 10, 2013
Central Park is and will forever be a jewel in the crown of New York City's urban planning. Olmsted predicted the city's need for an expansive natural space almost 160 years ago. Today, it is a place that welcomes New Yorkers and gives them a break from the infamous concrete jungle. Spend some time discovering the rich history of the sculpture and architecture of this National Historical Landmark.
This well-researched book shows the parts of Central Park the park through modern and archival photographs and distinguishes the original parts of the park from those that have been altered over the years. It also uncovers parts of Central Park that are unknown to most.