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Art Books 2020

If you are looking for Christmas present inspiration for art appreciating family and friends, The Art Newspaper has published some great recommendations.

The Newspaper has asked some of the world’s most recognised names in art, ‘What was the best art book you read in 2020?’

Directors of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tate Modern, British Museum, Centre Pompidou and more, and artists including Tracey Emin and Chantal Joffe, all identify their favourite book and tell readers why.

The list has extraordinary breadth and includes books on artists, art institutions, art alongside politics and beautifully presented catalogues from recent exhibitions. Favourites include:

Tracey Emin, Artist
Paul Thek: Artist’s Artist (2009) by Harald Falckenberg and Peter Weibel, eds

Max Hollein, Director, Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Irascibles: Painters Against the Museum (New York, 1950) (2020) by Daniel Belasco et al.

Hartwig Fischer, Director, British Museum
Die Teilung der Welt (2020; English edition The Division of the World, 2021) by Ursula Schulz-Dornburg and Martin Zimmermann

Chantal Joffe, Artist
Self Portrait (2019) by Celia Paul

Frances Morris, Director, Tate Modern
The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning (2017) by Jeremy Lent

Rebecca Salter, President, Royal Academy of Arts
Angelica Kauffman (2020) by Bettina Baumgärtel, ed

Bernard Blistène, Director, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou
Matisse Comme Roman (2020) by Aurélie Verdier, ed

Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Director, Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art
A Demon-Haunted Land: Witches, Wonder Doctors and the Ghosts of the Past in Post-WWII Germany (2020) by Monica Black

For the full list and article please visit: The Art Newspaper or follow the Book Club on social media #TANbookclub.