For today’s Art Wednesday, I wanted to recommend some books for further reading, if you’ve read my book Rembrandt is in the Wind. These are some of the key resources I relied on in my research. If you like the artists I wrote about, the following books are good companions. (I linked the book covers to Amazon. Just click on the image if you want to order any.)
Ramsey, Russ. Rembrandt is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art through the Eyes of Faith, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Reflective, 2022.
First up, here’s an excellent “coffee table” style book on Michelangelo’s David—an indispensable resource for my chapter on the subject. Great pictures and essays.
Paolucci, Antonio. David: Five Hundred Years. New York, NY: Sterling Publishing, 2005.
Andrew Graham-Dixon is a name that will appear many times in the process of researching art. He has written scholarly yet accessible works on many artists.
Graham-Dixon, Andrew. Caravaggio: A Life of Sacred and Profane. New York: Norton and Co., 2010.
This one by Laura Snyder digs into the mystery of how Vermeer was able to achieve what he put on the canvas.
Snyder, Laura J. Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2015.
Want to know the fuller story behind the disappearance of Rembrandt’s Storm on the Sea of Galilee? This is the book you’re after.
Boser, Ulrich. The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World’s Largest Unsolved Art Theft. New York, Harper, 2009.
Want to rattle me? Make fun of van Gogh cutting off his ear. This book offers a sober account of that troubled season of Vincent’s life.
Gayford, Martin. The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Provence. New York: First Mariner Books, 2006.
This one is hard to find—I got mine at a used bookstore—but what I love is it present the Impressionists by way of their friendships with each other. Lots about Bazille.
Morvan, Bérénice. Impressionists. Paris: Finest S.A./Éditions Pierre Terrail, 2002.
This book is a collection of essays about the life and work of Henry O. Tanner. There aren’t many books about him, but this one really covers a lot of ground.
Marley, Anna O., Ed. Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2012.
Gail Levin is widely regarded as the leading scholar on the complex lives of Edward and Josephine Hopper, and this book is the centerpiece of her work.
Levin, Gail. Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.
Pulitzer Prize winner and former Poet Laureate of the United States (1990) Mark Strand offers this insightful review of several dozen hopper paintings. I LOVE this book.
Strand, Mark. Hopper. Hopewell, NJ: Ecco Press, 1994.
Rockness is an expert on Lilias Trotter. This book, along with her documentary “Many Beautiful Things” give a great glimpse into Trotter’s life.
