Listen "Holiday Art Books 2025: A Gift Guide for Art Lovers"
Episode Synopsis
Join art advisor Megan Fox Kelly for a special holiday episode featuring her annual selection of art books worth giving—and keeping for yourself.This year's list includes revelatory biographies, major exhibition catalogues, and essential critical writing. From Barnett Newman's political and intellectual life before he became a painter, to Monet's restless vision traced through newly translated letters, these books illuminate artists and movements with fresh insight and rigorous scholarship.For the first time, Megan also recommends three exceptional books for young readers—intelligent introductions to art that never talk down to children. Whether you're looking for David Hockney's guide to pictures, the Met's "What the Artist Saw" series, or a poetic history of the color blue, these are books that teach children (and adults) how to see.To hear in-depth interviews with authors of other outstanding art books, subscribe to "Reading the Art World" on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.SHOW NOTESEpisode Timestamps: [00:00] - Introduction [01:05] - Barnett Newman: Here (https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691249186/barnett-newman)[01:38] - Fail Better: Reckonings with Artists and Critics (https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262552356/fail-better/)[02:17] - Monet: The Restless Vision (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/250416/monet-by-jackie-wullschlager/)[02:42] - Man Ray: When Objects Dream (https://store.metmuseum.org/man-ray-when-objects-dream-80060783)[03:24] - Turner and Constable: Art, Life, Landscape (https://yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300266481/turner-and-constable/)[03:55] - Sargent and Paris (https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9781588397959/sargent-and-paris/)[04:32] - Manet and Morisot (https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300280982/manet-and-morisot/)[05:15] - Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100 (https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780876333082/dreamworld/)[05:55] - Henri Rousseau: A Painter's Secrets (https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300284355/henri-rousseau/)[06:29] - Robert Longo: The Acceleration of History (https://www.hatjecantz.com/collections/new-books/products/67473-robert-longo-the-acceleration-of-history)[07:08] - A History of Pictures for Children (https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/history-of-pictures-for-children_9781419732119/)[07:50] - What the Artist Saw (Series) (https://store.metmuseum.org/what-the-artist-saw-paul-cezanne-80057949)[08:20] - Blue: A History of the Color (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/606200/blue-by-nana-ekua-brew-hammond-illustrated-by-daniel-minter/)Music composed by Bob Golden
More episodes of the podcast Reading the Art World
Megan Fontanella
12/11/2025
Susan Davidson
08/10/2025
Summer's Great Art Books
30/07/2025
Ian Wardropper
10/06/2025
Sarah Roberts
09/05/2025
Michael Findlay
27/02/2025
Sebastian Smee
15/01/2025
Art Books for Holiday Gifting
02/12/2024
Mary Morton & Kimberly Jones
14/11/2024
Diana Seave Greenwald
30/10/2024
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.