11 Illuminating Books to Inform and Inspire You This Season

By Larry Humber 

The best thing about reading is that it whisks you away to different places and times to meet different people. I’ve always been fascinated by the post-World War II art period, when New York supplanted Paris as the unofficial art capital of the world. I’ve also been interested in artists’ lives, especially as they endeavor to make a go of it—even more than the success they may eventually realize. Let’s face it: Most of us find that, from day one, making a living as an artist can be a challenge. Historically, it has been harder still for women artists, many of whom created in the shadows of their partners, with recognition coming late, if at all. 

With that in mind, here are several of my artist-driven reading recommendations for your Summer Reading List by some of my favorite authors.

The first is Mary Gabriel’s Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art, which tells the story of the five under-appreciated female artists and the men around them, including Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Jean Paul Riopelle. Suffice to say it was never easy for the quintet, but, as Gabriel writes in the book’s intro, “The stories told in this book might be a reminder that where there is art there is hope.”

Some of my favorite art books—biographies especially—have been penned by women writers. Phoebe Hoban and Deborah Solomon are two authors I highly recommend. Hoban has given us great reads about a trio of true originals, Basquiat: A Quick Killing in Art; Alice Neel: The Art of Not Sitting Pretty; and, more recently, Lucian Freud: Eyes Wide Open. I’ve long had a fascination with Basquiat; no doubt sparked by a possible encounter with the artist outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art some years ago. As for the ribald Neel, who can forget her portrait of a damaged Andy Warhol? Who cannot be intrigued by the fact that Freud and notorious barfly Francis Bacon were best buds for a time? Speaking of Warhol, don’t miss Richard Dorment’s 2023 book, Warhol After Warhol: Secrets, Lies, & Corruption in the Art World. It follows a decade-long trail debating the authenticity of a series of paintings by the most famous American artist of the 

Solomon has also profiled Jackson Pollock in Jackson Pollock: A Biography; Joseph Cornell in Utopia Parkway: The Life and Work of Joseph Cornell; and, more recently, Norman Rockwell in American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell. Word is she apparently has a book on Jasper Johns, now 94, in the works, to be published after his death, as requested by the artist.

Another fascinating read is The Slip: The New York City Street That Changed American Art Forever by Prudence Peiffer. Published in 2023, it’s the tale of a dead-end street at the lower end of Manhattan that was home to emerging artists such as Robert Indiana, Ellsworth Kelly, Agnes Martin, James Rosenquist and Jack Youngerman, in the late 1950s and early ’60s. They were described as “poor and unconcerned about money, living in cold-water flats,” often taking their meals at a retreat for sailors.

I’ve always treasured journalist and New Yorker writer Calvin Tomkins, now pushing 100, who penned notable bios on Marcel Duchamp and Robert Rauschenberg, among others. I particularly like his Lives of the Artists, which takes in Damien Hirst, Julian Schnabel, Richard Serra, Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman and Maurizio Cattelan. If you’re feeling especially ambitious, consider Tomkin’s The Lives of Artists: Collected Profiles. It features a definitive roundup of his artist profiles from 1962 to today.

Whether your summer reading happens on a plane, by the beach or in a comfy chair near the air conditioner, you’ll find plenty of inspiration in the fascinating stories of these famous creatives. Happy reading!

About the Author

Larry Humber writes about artists and art news for print and online publications.