Book Reports

Japanese printmaker Katsushika Hokusai is best known for his iconic block print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa. What is less apparent is that the prolific Edo-period artist was also the author of drawing manuals. These manuals were designed as an artist’s reference for drawing flora, fauna, people, and scenery. Hokusai’s Method is a compendium of these guides, each page reproduced as it appeared in the early nineteenth century.

In the year after photography was invented, the painter Paul Delaroche declared, “Painting is dead.” Now, just as artificial intelligence is suddenly ubiquitous, there are similar declarations of disruption from all areas of the humanities. Fred Ritchin’s book explores the questions of computer-generated images. Could it supplement the world of photography, or is this the dawn of the modern downfall of art-making?

From the understated suburban meadow of Grand Boulevard to the sprawling Scissortail Park downtown, green spaces abound in Oklahoma City. Co-written by Oklahoma historian Bob Blackburn and OKC park expert and landscape architect Brian Dougherty, this book showcases the planning, pioneers, native plants, and impact that a space dedicated to nature can have on a city.

Photographer Matt Black has spent the better part of a decade traversing the U.S. to areas that are designated in the U.S. Census as “concentrated poverty.” As of 2023, roughly 40 million Americans lived in poverty. Throughout his travels, Black amassed a collection of objects that span from the ephemeral, like lottery tickets and lighters, to the priceless—family photos and letters. These items document the often-overlooked parts of this country.

A staple genre of painting, the portrait is a powerful way to make a statement and a unique way to preserve history. About Face chronicles the early- to-mid career artists whose art-making revolves around people and faces, even when it verges on the realm of abstraction. This evolution reflects the cultural shift to convey character through creative narrative, dispensing with depictions of traditional likeness. Curator and author Amber Creswell Bell’s survey reveals that one portrait can depict much more than a single identity.

The world is changing quickly, and we all need to evolve to keep up—arts institutions are no exception. Author Daniel H. Weiss is a professor of the humanities at Johns Hopkins University and president emeritus of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In this slim but substantial book, Weiss expounds on the past, present, and future of the art museum.

This collection of essays by British art historian and writer TJ Clark was twenty-five years in the making. Clark’s prolific writings on the connection between art and politics have been instrumental in shaping art history as we know it today, drawing connections between the Old Masters and contemporary artists. Clark examines what place—if any—politics should have in art and whether that changes how we judge the art. Case studies across centuries provoke an examination of art-making in today’s capitalist society.

Hockney’s Pictures is a sweeping retrospective of the works of this prolific artist. However, he has accomplished so much more than his paintings. An early adopter of technology, the octogenarian used his iPad for plein-air sessions at Yosemite National Park and for designing a stained-glass window at Westminster Abbey. In 1979 he co-founded Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and in 1999 he proposed the Hockney-Falco thesis, arguing that the Renaissance paintings of the 1400s were completed with the aid of camera obscuras and camera lucidas. As an artist, he has explored work in paint, printmaking, stage design, and photography and was an important Pop Art contributor in the 1960s. Hockney’s vivid work springs off the pages of this richly visual volume.

The title of this book will pique the interest of any adult who has tirelessly read book after book at bedtime. Many of us can name our favorite Oliver Jeffers title (The Day the Crayons Quit is a modern classic). His distinct drawing and lettering style, in addition to his clever word-smithing, have garnered him inclusion in Thames & Hudson’s series of “The Illustrators,” a collection of iconic book illustrators such as Ludwig Bemelmens and Dick Bruna.

It’s not uncommon to have something of a religious experience when stumbling across a masterpiece in an arts institution. Professor Ian Markham is the dean and president of Virginia Theological Seminary and the president of the General Theological Seminary in New York. He argues that art is a way to connect with the spiritual realm. Co-author Anne Searle Bent has taught numerous courses on art and faith at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest, Illinois.