The Lives of the Artists

“With Vasari, we begin thinking that artistic biography might matter. As much as we may want to resist the notion that biography is central to understanding art, it seems as though it is just inevitable – the life of the artist is an inevitable element in considering the art itself, as Vasari realised early on.” Read more...

The best books on Andy Warhol

Blake Gopnik, Art Historians, Critics & Curator

“He invented art history as we know it…..Much of what we know, especially about the personal lives of the artists, comes from Vasari because there are no other sources. He got it from gossip and hearsay. That is how he did much of his research: by asking people who knew them or by asking somebody whose father had worked with them.” Read more...

The Best Italian Renaissance Books

Kenneth Bartlett, Historian