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Art » Art History

Browse book recommendations:

Art

  • Applied Arts
  • Architecture
  • Art History
  • Design, Illustration
  • Fashion & Style
  • Modern and Contemporary Art
  • Old Master Art
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Looking for books about art history? Browse through our expert recommendations to find the best books on art history to give as a gift to an art lover—or for your own library.  Art interviews explore themes in the visual arts from ancient times to the present day with historians, curators, critics and practitioners. Our interviews range from engaging introductions to specialist subjects — such as the Dutch Masters, the Art History for teens, Leonardo, the Renaissance, Reinterpreting Medieval Art— to in-depth explorations of more personal themes and inspirations. Our archive covers a vast array of subjects, extending well beyond the best-seller lists. In contrast to other online reviews, Five Books content is timeless and our contributors authoritative – these truly are the best books on everything.

    The best books on Drawing and Painting, recommended by Juliette Aristides

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    The best books on Drawing and Painting - The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed

    1

    The Practice and Science of Drawing
    by Harold Speed

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    The best books on Drawing and Painting - The Journal of Eugene Delacroix by Eugene Delacroix

    2

    The Journal of Eugene Delacroix
    by Eugene Delacroix

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    The best books on Drawing and Painting - The Shallows by Nicholas Carr

    3

    The Shallows
    by Nicholas Carr

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    The best books on Drawing and Painting - On Painting by Leon Battista Alberti

    4

    On Painting
    by Leon Battista Alberti

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    The best books on Drawing and Painting - Art and Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland

    5

    Art and Fear
    by David Bayles & Ted Orland

The best books on Drawing and Painting, recommended by Juliette Aristides

Geniuses may only be born once a century or so, but great art gets made all the time. Some of it follows atelier methods inspired by an apprenticeship model that has been handed down through the centuries. Juliette Aristides, an artist at the forefront of the atelier revival movement, discusses five books that are ‘core curriculum’ for anyone who wants to learn how to paint and draw, and thereby explore the virtues of sustained attention and close observation that come with making representational art.

    The best books on The Art Market, recommended by Georgina Adam

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    The best books on The Art Market - Rogues’ Gallery by Philip Hook

    1

    Rogues’ Gallery
    by Philip Hook

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    The best books on The Art Market - From Manet to Manhattan: The Rise of the Modern Art Market by Peter Watson

    2

    From Manet to Manhattan: The Rise of the Modern Art Market
    by Peter Watson

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    The best books on The Art Market - The $12 Million Stuffed Shark by Don Thompson

    3

    The $12 Million Stuffed Shark
    by Don Thompson

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    The best books on The Art Market - The Art of Forgery by Noah Charney

    4

    The Art of Forgery
    by Noah Charney

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    The best books on The Art Market - Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich by Chrystia Freeland

    5

    Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich
    by Chrystia Freeland

The best books on The Art Market, recommended by Georgina Adam

Are the prices paid at auction for works of art a sign of the art world’s health? Or a warning of its imminent decline? Journalist and art market observer Georgina Adam discusses five books that cast light on an often shadowy market.

    The best books on Vermeer and Studio Method, recommended by Jane Jelley

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    The best books on Vermeer and Studio Method - Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth behind the Masterpieces by Philip Steadman

    1

    Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth behind the Masterpieces
    by Philip Steadman

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    The best books on Vermeer and Studio Method - Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay

    2

    Color: A Natural History of the Palette
    by Victoria Finlay

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    The best books on Vermeer and Studio Method - Il Libro dell'Arte by Cennino Cennini

    3

    Il Libro dell'Arte
    by Cennino Cennini

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    The best books on Vermeer and Studio Method - Vision and Art by Margaret Livingstone

    4

    Vision and Art
    by Margaret Livingstone

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    The best books on Vermeer and Studio Method - Letters on Cézanne by Rainer Maria Rilke

    5

    Letters on Cézanne
    by Rainer Maria Rilke

The best books on Vermeer and Studio Method, recommended by Jane Jelley

Painting is not what it used to be. With materials and photography close to hand, it’s easy to forget the sheer labour involved in producing an Old Master canvas. What does studio method – the making of masterpieces – tell us about artistic genius, then and now? Painter Jane Jelley considers the question using Johannes Vermeer as her starting point.

    The best books on Northern Renaissance, recommended by Christopher S. Wood

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    The best books on Northern Renaissance - The Limewood Sculptors of Renaissance Germany by Michael Baxandall

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    The Limewood Sculptors of Renaissance Germany
    by Michael Baxandall

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    The best books on Northern Renaissance - The Renaissance Print, 1470-1550 by David Landau & Peter Parshall

    2

    The Renaissance Print, 1470-1550
    by David Landau & Peter Parshall

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    The best books on Northern Renaissance - The Art of Arts by Anita Albus

    3

    The Art of Arts
    by Anita Albus

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    The best books on Northern Renaissance - Bosch and Bruegel: From Enemy Painting to Everyday Life by Joseph Leo Koerner

    4

    Bosch and Bruegel: From Enemy Painting to Everyday Life
    by Joseph Leo Koerner

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    The best books on Northern Renaissance - Into the White: The Renaissance Arctic and the End of the Image by Christopher P. Heuer

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    Into the White: The Renaissance Arctic and the End of the Image
    by Christopher P. Heuer

The best books on Northern Renaissance, recommended by Christopher S. Wood

The Renaissance had quite distinct manifestations in Northern Europe and Italy: if the Southern Renaissance was all about abundance and positivity, the dominant theme of the Northern Renaissance was negativity, says New York University Professor Christopher S. Wood. He recommends what to read to learn more about the Northern Renaissance, from Bosch’s fantasy bestiary of the demonic and the grotesque, to Bruegel’s comic and badly proportioned peasants.

    The best books on The Lives of Artists, recommended by Maria Loh

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    The best books on The Lives of Artists - The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art by Joseph Leo Koerner

    1

    The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art
    by Joseph Leo Koerner

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    The best books on The Lives of Artists - The Self-Aware Image: An Insight Into Early Modern Meta-Painting by Victor Stoichita

    2

    The Self-Aware Image: An Insight Into Early Modern Meta-Painting
    by Victor Stoichita

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    The best books on The Lives of Artists - On Photography by Susan Sontag

    3

    On Photography
    by Susan Sontag

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    The best books on The Lives of Artists - Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes

    4

    Camera Lucida
    by Roland Barthes

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    The best books on The Lives of Artists - Just Kids by Patti Smith

    5

    Just Kids
    by Patti Smith

The best books on The Lives of Artists, recommended by Maria Loh

We live in an age obsessed with self-image. Technology has made the ‘selfie’ a ubiquitous form of social currency. Renaissance means may have been very different, but celebrity artists in Medici Florence dealt with many of the issues relating to identity and authorship that we grapple with today. Maria Loh, author of Still Lives: Death, Desire, and the Portrait of the Old Master, talks to Five Books about the curated self.

    The best books on Rembrandt, recommended by Onno Blom

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    The best books on Rembrandt - Rembrandt: The Painter at Work by Ernst van de Wetering

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    Rembrandt: The Painter at Work
    by Ernst van de Wetering

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    The best books on Rembrandt - Rembrandt's Universe: His Art, His Life, His World by Gary Schwartz

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    Rembrandt's Universe: His Art, His Life, His World
    by Gary Schwartz

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    The best books on Rembrandt - Rembrandt's Eyes by Simon Schama

    3

    Rembrandt's Eyes
    by Simon Schama

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    The best books on Rembrandt - The Painter and the Girl by Margriet de Moor

    4

    The Painter and the Girl
    by Margriet de Moor

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    The best books on Rembrandt - Rembrandt: the Complete Drawings & Etchings by Peter Schatborn

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    Rembrandt: the Complete Drawings & Etchings
    by Peter Schatborn

The best books on Rembrandt, recommended by Onno Blom

Though he left more self-portraits to posterity than practically any Old Master, there remains an air of mystery around Rembrandt the man—even on the 350th anniversary of his death. Piecing together the very few personal letters and documents left behind, Onno Blom has now reconstructed Rembrandt’s formative years in Young Rembrandt. Here he guides us through five of the most authoritative—and imaginative—accounts of the artist.

    The best books on John Ruskin, recommended by Michael Glover

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    The best books on John Ruskin - The Life of John Ruskin by W. G. Collingwood

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    The Life of John Ruskin
    by W. G. Collingwood

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    The best books on John Ruskin - Ruskin Today by Kenneth Clark

    2

    Ruskin Today
    by Kenneth Clark

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    The best books on John Ruskin - John Ruskin: A Life in Pictures by James S. Dearden

    3

    John Ruskin: A Life in Pictures
    by James S. Dearden

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    The best books on John Ruskin - Effie in Venice by Mary Lutyens

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    Effie in Venice
    by Mary Lutyens

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    The best books on John Ruskin - The Correspondence of John Ruskin and Charles Eliot Norton by Charles Eliot Norton

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    The Correspondence of John Ruskin and Charles Eliot Norton
    by Charles Eliot Norton

The best books on John Ruskin, recommended by Michael Glover

As a believer in the humanising nature of proper work, the virtues of sustained attention and the value of aesthetics as the keystone to ideals for a truly prosperous society, John Ruskin’s abiding concerns are still very much with us today. On the bicentenary of this eminent Victorian’s birth, Michael Glover, author of the idiosyncratic Ruskin Dictionary, explains why we should still be reading Ruskin closely in the twenty first century.

    The Best Art History Books for Teenagers, recommended by John Harrison

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    The Best Art History Books for Teenagers - A World History of Art Hugh Honour and John Fleming

    1

    A World History of Art
    Hugh Honour and John Fleming

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    The Best Art History Books for Teenagers - Ways of Seeing by John Berger

    2

    Ways of Seeing
    by John Berger

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    The Best Art History Books for Teenagers - A History of Western Architecture by David Watkin

    3

    A History of Western Architecture
    by David Watkin

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    The Best Art History Books for Teenagers - Women, Art, And Power And Other Essays by Linda Nochlin

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    Women, Art, And Power And Other Essays
    by Linda Nochlin

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    The Best Art History Books for Teenagers - The Art of Describing: Dutch Art in the Seventeenth Century by Svetlana Alpers

    5

    The Art of Describing: Dutch Art in the Seventeenth Century
    by Svetlana Alpers

The Best Art History Books for Teenagers, recommended by John Harrison

Which are the best books to get a teenager excited about art history? We turned to veteran art history teacher John Harrison, formerly head of the art history department at Eton College, for his top five picks of the most illuminating and accessible books for getting a broad overview of the history of art.

    The best books on The Renaissance, recommended by Jerry Brotton

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    The best books on The Renaissance - Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy by Michael Baxandall

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    Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy
    by Michael Baxandall

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    The best books on The Renaissance - Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt

    2

    Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare
    by Stephen Greenblatt

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    The best books on The Renaissance - Worldly Goods: A New History of the Renaissance by Lisa Jardine

    3

    Worldly Goods: A New History of the Renaissance
    by Lisa Jardine

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    The best books on The Renaissance - The Printing Press as an Agent of Change by Elizabeth L Eisenstein

    4

    The Printing Press as an Agent of Change
    by Elizabeth L Eisenstein

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    The best books on The Renaissance - The Reformation by Diarmaid MacCulloch

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    The Reformation
    by Diarmaid MacCulloch

The best books on The Renaissance, recommended by Jerry Brotton

A century-and-a-half ago the Swiss art historian, Jacob Burckhardt, popularized the idea of a ‘Renaissance’ in 14th century Italy. For most people, the term still conjures up works of art by the likes of Michelangelo or Leonardo. But there is much, much more to it than that. Professor of Renaissance studies, Jerry Brotton, picks the best books to read for a more complete understanding of the Renaissance.

    The best books on Reinterpreting Medieval Art, recommended by Marc Michael Epstein

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    The best books on Reinterpreting Medieval Art - The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion by Leo Steinberg

    1

    The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion
    by Leo Steinberg

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    The best books on Reinterpreting Medieval Art - Image on the Edge: The Margins of Medieval Art by Michael Camille

    2

    Image on the Edge: The Margins of Medieval Art
    by Michael Camille

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    The best books on Reinterpreting Medieval Art - The Reformation of the Image by Joseph Leo Koerner

    3

    The Reformation of the Image
    by Joseph Leo Koerner

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    The best books on Reinterpreting Medieval Art - Early Medieval Bible Illumination and the Ashburnham Pentateuch by Dorothy Verkerk

    4

    Early Medieval Bible Illumination and the Ashburnham Pentateuch
    by Dorothy Verkerk

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    The best books on Reinterpreting Medieval Art - Anachronic Renaissance by Alexander Nagel & Christopher Wood

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    Anachronic Renaissance
    by Alexander Nagel & Christopher Wood

The best books on Reinterpreting Medieval Art, recommended by Marc Michael Epstein

The professor of religion explains how medieval Jews and Christians collaborated. He recommends five books that have changed the way we look at medieval art.

    Andrew Graham-Dixon on His Favourite Art Books

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    Andrew Graham-Dixon on His Favourite Art Books - Turner: Imagination and Reality by Lawrence Gowing

    1

    Turner: Imagination and Reality
    by Lawrence Gowing

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    Andrew Graham-Dixon on His Favourite Art Books - The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and His Followers by T J Clark

    2

    The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and His Followers
    by T J Clark

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    Andrew Graham-Dixon on His Favourite Art Books - Literary Landscape: Turner and Constable by Ronald Paulson

    3

    Literary Landscape: Turner and Constable
    by Ronald Paulson

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    Andrew Graham-Dixon on His Favourite Art Books - Night Studio: A Memoir of Philip Guston by Musa Mayer

    4

    Night Studio: A Memoir of Philip Guston
    by Musa Mayer

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    Andrew Graham-Dixon on His Favourite Art Books - Neglected Genius: The Diaries of Benjamin Robert Haydon, 1808–1846 by Benjamin Robert Haydon

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    Neglected Genius: The Diaries of Benjamin Robert Haydon, 1808–1846
    by Benjamin Robert Haydon

Andrew Graham-Dixon on His Favourite Art Books

Art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon takes us through his favourite art books, one of which is the best thing he has ever read about art. He contends that Monet is a follower of Turner, reflects on how the purpose of history of art has changed, and introduces us to the diaries of an “astonishingly bad” painter which reveal him to be one of the nineteenth century’s greatest prose writers.

    The Best Renaissance Books, recommended by Kenneth Bartlett

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    The Best Renaissance Books - The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli

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    The Prince
    by Niccolo Machiavelli

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    The Best Renaissance Books - Ricordi by Francesco Guicciardini

    2

    Ricordi
    by Francesco Guicciardini

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    The Best Renaissance Books - The Book of the Courtier by Baldesar Castiglione

    3

    The Book of the Courtier
    by Baldesar Castiglione

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    The Best Renaissance Books - The Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari

    4

    The Lives of the Artists
    by Giorgio Vasari

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    The Best Renaissance Books - The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini by Benvenuto Cellini

    5

    The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
    by Benvenuto Cellini

The Best Renaissance Books, recommended by Kenneth Bartlett

If you’re going to look at the past, you have to understand the people who were living there and see the world through their eyes, says historian and Renaissance specialist Kenneth Bartlett. He explains that while Machiavelli is much misunderstood and maligned, Donald Trump is a Machiavellian in the truest sense of the word. He picks the best books of the Italian Renaissance.

    The best books on The Dutch Masters, recommended by Adam Eaker

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    The best books on The Dutch Masters - Still Life with Oysters and Lemon: On Objects and Intimacy by Mark Doty

    1

    Still Life with Oysters and Lemon: On Objects and Intimacy
    by Mark Doty

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    The best books on The Dutch Masters - The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age by Simon Schama

    2

    The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age
    by Simon Schama

  • Read
    The best books on The Dutch Masters - Vermeer by Lawrence Gowing

    3

    Vermeer
    by Lawrence Gowing

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    The best books on The Dutch Masters - Rembrandt's Enterprise: The Studio and the Market by Svetlana Alpers

    4

    Rembrandt's Enterprise: The Studio and the Market
    by Svetlana Alpers

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    The best books on The Dutch Masters - Art of the Everyday: Dutch Painting and the Realist Novel by Ruth Bernard Yeazell

    5

    Art of the Everyday: Dutch Painting and the Realist Novel
    by Ruth Bernard Yeazell

The best books on The Dutch Masters, recommended by Adam Eaker

The past may be a foreign country, but the world portrayed in the art of the Dutch Masters is not so very far from our own, says Adam Eaker of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. For a society that struggles with materialism and consumption, there are a lot of lessons to be learnt from the 17th century Golden Age.

    The best books on Architectural History, recommended by Dan Cruickshank

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    The best books on Architectural History - The Four Books on Architecture (I quattro libri dell'architettura) by Andrea Palladio

    1

    The Four Books on Architecture (I quattro libri dell'architettura)
    by Andrea Palladio

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    The best books on Architectural History - Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism by Rudolf Wittkower

    2

    Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism
    by Rudolf Wittkower

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    The best books on Architectural History - Architect and Engineer by Andrew Saint

    3

    Architect and Engineer
    by Andrew Saint

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    The best books on Architectural History - Modern Architecture Since 1900 by William Curtis

    4

    Modern Architecture Since 1900
    by William Curtis

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    The best books on Architectural History - Life in the English Country House by Mark Girouard

    5

    Life in the English Country House
    by Mark Girouard

The best books on Architectural History, recommended by Dan Cruickshank

Art historian and TV presenter Dan Cruickshank explains the beauty of Palladian proportions, takes us on a tour of some key English country houses and describes the poetry of Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation in Marseilles. He recommends the best books on ‘architectural history’

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We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand interviews, or five thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

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