6 Inspiring Artist Biographies To Read This Year

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“At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.”

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They say art is what defines humanity. From Van Gough’s Starry Night to that doodle in the back of your English textbook, there’s something so releasing about putting pencil to paper and letting your creativity take over. And the fact that others can enjoy and celebrate it, seeing the beauty and interpreting the messages behind the piece, helps make art one of the most emotive and powerful releases. And whilst we here at What We Reading are usually more about the words than the pictures, we know there are instances where a picture really can speak a thousand of them. Join us as we bring you some of the most inspiring artist biographies for you to read this year! 

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Diane Arbus – Patricia Bosworth

Patricia Bosworth presents one of the most powerful Diane Arbus biographies ever written. In it, she explores the turbulent life of arguably America’s most influential photographer, her unflinching commitment to capturing the marginalised profoundly changing society’s conceptions of what is deemed ‘normal’.

Through painstaking research that includes conversations with friends, family members and colleagues, readers are given unparalleled insights into the ideas that motivated Arbus, the dark fears that plagued her and the resulting tragedy of her death in 1971 at the height of her acclaim. 

Ninth Street Women: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art – Mary Gabriel

In Ninth Street Women, Mary Gabriel introduces the stories of five remarkably talented female artists: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler.

The five women burst onto the male-dominated New York art scene in the 1950s, smashing apart the typical gender stereotypes for the time. Gabriel explores the lives and motivations behind these women and their work, powerfully analysing how their art shaped a more permissive American society that emerged from World War Two. 

Leonardo da Vinci – Walter Isaacson

Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most lauded and iconic influences in world history. However, establishing a personal biography of the man behind the Mona Lisa is a tougher challenge than one might think.

There are very few surviving records of da Vinci as a person. But, through the works he left behind, Walter Isaacson attempts to uncover more about the motivations and influences behind da Vinci in his personal biography of this legendary Renaissance figure. Isaacson’s work has received acclaim as one of the finest artist biographies, delving into various aspects such as the artist’s procrastination and speculated sexuality.

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Check Out The Best Art Books From 2023

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Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo – Hayden Herrera

Frida Kahlo has emerged as one of the most celebrated artists by critics, historians and activists. Her works capture a raw honesty, her surrealist and fantastical realism are iconic and her background as a self-taught and often underappreciated figure makes for an inspiring message for fellow up-and-coming artists to this day.

Her life was also incredibly complex, filled with affairs, betrayals and intrigue. Hayden Herrera’s biography of the Mexican artist, Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo, skillfully brings all of this to life, masterfully narrating the captivating story. A deep dive into the woman behind the art, it is one of the most intimate artist biographies one can hope to read. 

The Art of Rivalry: Four Friendships, Betrayals, And Breakthroughs in Modern Art – Sebastian Smee

Art critic Sebastian Smee’s is a compelling biography of four pairs of artists whose persistent rivalries and competitive friendships unlocked incredible creativity. Detailing painful betrayals as well as close-knit friendships, the lives and works of Manet and Degas, Picasso and Matisse, Pollock and de Kooning, and Freud and Bacon are all brought to life in vivid detail thanks to Smee’s impressive research.

The personalities of these remarkable artists shine through with captivating insights and entertaining wit in The Art of Rivalry, beautifully capturing their significant impact on the world of art.

Everything She Touched: The Life of Ruth Asawa – Marilyn Chase

On the subject of underappreciated artists that have emerged in recent times, Ruth Asawa’s genius as a sculptor was often discredited on the back of lazy racial prejudice, despite hailing from the American West Coast. Having been detained in an internment camp during WW2, Asawa’s perspective drawing skills were taught to her by former employees at Disney.

Author Marilyn Chase brings this insight and so many more to life in her biography on Asawa, Everything She Touched. Chronically her rise through adversity to become arguably the most famous wire sculptor in the States, Asawa’s journey is one of persistence and the importance of unwavering self-belief.