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"ARTINFO has combed our bookshelves, looked through our dusty college syllabi, asked fellow artists, professors, and historians, and compiled a list of the tomes that every artist should read, own, and pass on. We've been careful to balance our selections between theory, history, reference, and practical guides, ranging from the semiotics of Roland Barthes to a gigantic biography of Pablo Picasso. Our list was so long that we had to break it into two parts. Here is Part 1, and check out&amp;nbsp;Part 2&amp;nbsp;for even more books:\u201CVisual Thinking\u201D by Rudolf Arnheim, University of California PressMerging art and psychology, Arnheim (1904-2007) masterfully explains perception in the context of aesthetic imagery. His stance, specifically in \u201CVisual Thinking,\u201D is that all thought is based on perception. Its 35th-anniversary printing should be bought as a set with&amp;nbsp; Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye, &amp;nbsp;and read not just by artists, but also art critics, to understand the psychology behind our response to art. Camera Lucida  by Roland Barthes, Farrar Straus and Giroux and Hill and Wang (MacMillan)Barthes is the grand poobah of French semiotics, and his texts have laid the groundwork for the codification of culture. They range from the edgy ruminations of&amp;nbsp;\u201CImage \u2013 Music \u2013 Text &amp;nbsp;to the intimate reflections of  A Lover's Discourse. &amp;nbsp;But  Camera Lucida,  with its lyrical yet rigorous reflections on the images of Richard Avedon and Robert Mapplethorpe, is perhaps one of his most lasting contribution to writing about art. Ways of Seeing  by John Berger, Viking (Pengiun Group)Based on the original, highly successful BBC television series of the same name, Berger created a masterpiece in 1972 by digesting complex ideas about image reproduction and popular culture, bringing theory to the masses with \u201CWays of Seeing.\u201D He covers subjects including imagery in advertising, the notion of originality, and subjectivity in perception. While others have gone into greater depth with many of the topics he covers, Berger\u2019s opus is a must-have for its succinct mastery and impressive compilation of complex theory. Art/Work  by Heather Darcy Bhandari and Jonathan Melber, Simon &amp;amp; SchusterNot every artist needs a career guide, but for those that do this is one of the best. Written by a gallery director and an arts lawyer this is first handbook of advice on the management of a full-time art career, offering some savvy advice about the business end. The Continental Aesthetics Reader, 2nd&amp;nbsp;Edition  Edited by Clive Cazeaux, RoutledgeThis is different to another anthology,&amp;nbsp;\u201CArt and Theory,\u201D because of its unique organization, which is by art historical movement and cultural milestone. The seven sections of the book range from German Aesthetics to Postmodernism and set art history off&amp;nbsp;against literature, sociology, and philosophy in the writings of Giorgio Agamben, Slavoj Zizek, Immanuel Kant, G.W.F. Hegel, and many more. Compared to  Art and Theory,  this text has a broader range and suitable for artists whose work is cross-disciplinary.\u201CArt History: 4th&amp;nbsp;Edition\u201D by Marilyn Stokstad and Michael W. Cothren, PearsonWhile the art history textbook market has long been dominated by Gardner\u2019s \u201CArt Through the Ages\u201D (now in its 13th&amp;nbsp;edition) and \u201CJanson\u2019s History of Art: The Western Tradition\u201D (in its 8th&amp;nbsp;edition), a shift has been occurring in academia towards the use of Marilyn Stokstad and Michael W. Cothren\u2019s more recent, more student-friendly, inclusive, and participatory textbook \u201CArt History.\u201D Just as big, but not as costly as its ugly stepsisters, \u201CArt History\u201D strives to be more than just a survey, with engaging diagrams, materials, and methodological explanations, online complimentary software, and a decent revision to the art historical timeline which makes it more diverse. In addition, in comparison to Gardner\u2019s tiny reproductions, Stokstad and Cothren are not skimping on the image quality and size, so the textbook is as good a visual resource for artists as it is a textual one. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience  by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Harper CollinsThis is an original, psychology-oriented perspective on what some call \u201Cgetting in the zone\u201D but what unpronounceable Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi terms \u201Cflow.\u201D What sets it apart, and makes it an apt text for art-making, is Csikszentmihalyi\u2019s focus on satisfaction and happiness. History of Beauty  and  On Ugliness  by Umberto Eco, Rizzoli New YorkOK, these are actually two books, but they are really two halves of a whole. For artists interested in aesthetic theory, the body, and kitsch, Eco is your man. A cultural critic, his sweeping knowledge unfolds in engaging story-like prose (he is also a celebrated postmodern novelist, of course) with direct visual examples. Well versed in art and philosophy, he cites an exhaustive list of examples, including Bosch, Brueghel, Goya, Milton, Goethe, and Ancient Greek amphorae. &amp;nbsp; Why Art Cannot Be Taught: A Handbook for Art Students &amp;nbsp;by James Elkins, University of Illinois PressElkins examines the structure of art education and fixes a microscope on art school's elusive \u201Ccrit\u201D system. Whether you are preparing for your first critique, or about to mount a major retrospective, his insights on what works, what doesn\u2019t, and how to take and dish out criticism are invaluable. No one has tackled this subject quite as thoroughly. Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation  by E.H. Gombrich, Princeton University PressA classic (it was published in 1960) if one is seeking knowledge on the contentious merger of the sciences and humanities, Gombrich uses Leonardo, Rembrandt, and Ancient Greece as examples in the history of picture making and perception. His approach is a uniquely rationalistic one, and still a refreshing take on the subject. Art in Theory: 1900 \u2013 2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, 2nd&amp;nbsp;Edition  Edited by Charles Harrison and Dr. Paul J. Wood, WileyOne of the most widely used anthologies of art theory texts, and significant for offering a heaping helping of primary resources. The newly revised edition, updated to include the \u201890s, has essays ordered by art historical movements, including writing by Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Giorgio de Chirico, Marcel Duchamp, Mark Rothko, Francis Bacon, and many more. Like, many, many&amp;nbsp;more. It\u2019s big \u2014 but don\u2019t let it intimidate you. Illuminations: Essays and Reflections,  Knopf Doubleday, and/or \u201CWalter Benjamin: Selected Writings, Volume 1: 1913-1926,\u201D Belknap Press of Harvard UniversityBenjamin has been for decades the sensitive art theorist's go-to guru. His essay \u201CThe Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction\u201D is read widely by art history and studio art majors, and \u201CThe Task of the Translator\u201D can also be mined for aesthetic insights. However, while \u201CIlluminations\u201D is both short and contains some of the most relevant essays Benjamin wrote on art, the first volume of Belknap Press\u2019s \u201CSelected Writings\u201D series has some very poignant writings on illustration, children\u2019s drawings, and perception that are incredibly suggestive for those interested in semiotics, color theory, and memory.\u201CThe Pink Glass Swan\u201D by Lucy Lippard, the New PressLucy Lippard wrote some of the most important essays on feminist art, politics, and activism in the 1970s, inspired by the women\u2019s movement. This collection compiles highlights from her popular \u201CFrom the Center: Feminist Essays on Art\u201D and \u201CGet the Message?: A Decade of Art for Social Change,\u201D as well as pieces done originally for print in newspapers, magazines, and art catalogues. A must-have on the genre of feminist art writings, or for any artist navigating issues of politics and class in our troubled contemporary art world (see the title essay, a true classic). The Art Museum  Edited by PhaidonAll artists should have an image bible; something that is both an inspiration and a source for historical imagery. This book is it. While the quality of the reproductions might not be the best (they are a little dull, truthfully), Phaidon makes up for it with the tremendous trim size on this tome of images. This book is massive. The reproduction of the Sistine Chapel alone will take up half your dining room table. Try finding another version as complete, detailed, or as large in your&amp;nbsp;Gardner\u2019s, or even your&amp;nbsp;Stokstad and Cothren. (Beware the price-tag, it\u2019s expensive at $500.) Orientalism  by Edward Said, PenguinThe leading text on exoticism and \u201Cotherism,\u201D Edward Said's  Orientalism  blew readers away when it was published in 1979, creating a much-needed term to describe the way Western thinkers and artists had mistread the East as a fantasy projection of their own insecurities. This is mandatory reading for artists whose work focuses on issues of identity, race, culture, and history \u2014 and, now that we think of it, it should just be read by everyone in general.&amp;nbsp; Anatomy: A Complete Guide for Artists  by Joseph Sheppard, Dover PublicationsEvery artist, whether interested in performance or painting, should arguably&amp;nbsp;have a basic grasp of drawing \u2014 if not for the basic understanding of the human form in space, then for useful knowledge of composition and light. This is by far one of the most user-friendly and complete guides for artists of any medium to use in their studies. Take my word from having used this book myself. Seven Days in the Art World  by Sarah Thornton, W. W. Norton &amp;amp; CompanyThe first-person story of the journalist who infiltrated the art world and performed the impossible feat of making art the subject of a best-selling book. It\u2019s an incredibly informative as a well-rounded view of the multiple cogs that keep the art world turning, from art publishing at Artforum to the well-assisted studio of a high-profile artist like Takashi Murakami. Thornton's ethnography is an attempt to understand an unregulated, exclusive world of insiders, following a path from the making and selling of contemporary art to art school to the auction house. The Lives of the Artists  Giorgio Vasari, Oxford University PressOne might consider this a biography of the Italian Renaissance, told through the brief, individual biographies of the important artists of the day. Giorgio Vasari invented the term  Renaissance,  and simultanously invented its history by chronicling its progression from Brunelleschi to Da Vinci. The OUP edition features 36 of the most important entires, and is one of the most important sources an artist can have on this all-important period. (Nearly all of the text, in its unabridged English translation, can be found online here.) Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees: Over Thirty Years of Conversations with Robert Irwin\u201D by Lawrence Weschler, University of California PressWhat better way to learn than from the master himself? This is considered one of the most vital books on a single artist's experience creating work over a multi-decade career, and the conversations author Lawrence Weschler has put together are a first-hand account at the unique way Irwin, the Light and Space maestro, sees the world.\u201CA Life of Picasso: The Cubist Rebel, 1907-1916\u201D by John Richardson, Random HouseJohn Richardson is the Robert Caro of artist biographers. Pablo Picasso is surely a colossal figure in the realm of history, and Richardson manages to dissect his life into a generous three-volume epic. As far as artist biographies go, this is the one to own, cherish, and study the hell out of. Not only does it detail Picasso\u2019s life and work, but it also captures the era in which he lived, the movements he helped create, and his complicated relationships with contemporaries like Braque and Apollinaire. The second volume is the one we have picked out here, specifically for its great detail about his relationships with other artists of the time, but the other two (\u201CThe Prodigy 1881-1906\u201D and \u201CThe Triumphant Years 1917-1932\u201D) are also worth owning. Picasso changed history, and the modern day art world wouldn\u2019t be what it is without him.For questions or further book suggestions, write amartinez[at]artinfo.com[content:advertisement-center]"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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