#52artbooks25 — Public Fediverse posts

51. In the year of Art History, we visited Florence, and a visit to Florence in the year of Art History is not complete without a visit to the Uffizi. We did a guided tour so we were whizzed through a bit, but managed a linger afterwards. They've got some decent stuff. Recommend. #52ArtBooks25

50. Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, carved from the tubes of a grain silo on the V&A Waterfront, is the most stunning gallery I've been to. Africa Modern presents the design and making of the building alongside essays and a showcase of contemporary art in Africa #52ArtBooks25

49. I'm having to make choices now, not long to go! This one's a bit of a whopper. A whole host of everything Bauhaus for your delight. I wonder if I should use it to write our KS3 curriculum...? #52ArtBooks25

48. The Photo Book is another one I used to love in my school library (they had the big version, I only got the small one, but still packs a punch). I've not included one of the pictures I like most coz 'adult content' but check out 'Nude Woman Wearing Meat Packers Gloves' if you can. #52ArtBooks25

47. This guy's pretty familiar and certainly what most people think of alongside the Accademia Gallery in Florence, it's worth the queues to see David, but there's more to the gallery than just the big guy. I particularly enjoyed a bit of saint spotting in this one. And the aircon. #52ArtBooks25

46. A local chap by the name of Joseph Wright of Derby. Usually several of his greatest hits are lining the walls of Derby Museum and Art Gallery but they've trotted off to that there London for a bit... #52ArtBooks25

45. This week it's Anthony Gormley at the RA, 2019. There was a lot to love in this exhibition. I loved the bodies, I loved the concrete, I loved the massive angular dark tunnel thing, but my favourites were the cases and cases full of Gormley's workbooks. #52ArtBooks25

44. The British Museum has a series of these small 'Object in Focus' books and this one is all about Hokusai's Great Wave. This colour woodblock print is one of the series 'Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji' and the book looks at its history and place in modern culture. #52ArtBooks25

43. We're on holiday in North Yorkshire at the moment and had a lovely trip to the Scarborough Art Gallery, including this exhibition of a reimagining of the fairytales of the Brothers Grimm by Christopher P Wood. Lots of print, paint and collage. #52ArtBooks25

42. Fruit of Friendship is a reference to 'Discourse on Friendship' written by Mary Beale (probably Britain's first professional female artist) in 1666. She seems like my kinda girl. This is a nice little book from Philip Mould & Co. with biography,essays and catalogue. #52ArtBooks25

41. Second appearance for Giacometti here, this time a more recent Tate Modern exhibition. This book covers a lot, including a wonderful A-Z. I love the way his sculpture changes as you move around the space. And the cat. I will always love the cat. #52ArtBooks25

40. This is a book we bought in the V&A sale for £2 and I've not properly looked at it til now - it's brilliant! It's a book of prints and posters by artists from Africa and the African diaspora and divided into sections covering place, history, memory, identity and protest. #52ArtBooks25

39. The 2015 Glenn Ligon exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary is my absolute favourite they've done. It was an insight into the work that has shaped Ligon's alongside his own work. I visited multiple times to stare at everything from Twombly to Basquiat to Pollock & of course Ligon #52ArtBooks25

38. The Berardo Museum in Lisbon remains one of our favourites. Mostly modern art, with some contemporary, the collection is comprehensive and easy to work through. Unfortunately Howard picked up the Portuguese version of the book so it's a bit mysterious... #52ArtBooks25

37. The contemporary sculpture of Phyllida Barlow at the RA in 2019. Made this trip specially in a time of work-art limbo and it was as wonderful as I wanted it to be. Massive and textured and thoughtful and a riot of materials. #52ArtBooks25

36. I'm not sure how we've got this one so it was probably a present. I wasn't really that into the hype around Banksy, but we went to the stealth exhibition in Bristol and queued for an entire day, and there were some pretty clever things in there, so... #52ArtBooks25

35. This is a lovely book. We used to stay in Harlow fairly often and it quickly becomes apparent how many sculptures there are. It was part of the set up of Harlow New Town in the 50s and a collection of major works and lesser-known artists are everywhere from town centre to Tesco. #52ArtBooks25

34. This book documents the installation of the 2016 KAWS exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The park had a collection of giant wooden sculptures and the Longside Gallery had more, colourful sculptures alongside large-scale paintings. #52ArtBooks25

33. AI Wei Wei RA exhibition catalogue 2015 (and I think the start of me buying exhibition publications regularly). This was a stonker of an exhibition - lots of surface and lots more underneath the surface. #52ArtBooks25

32. This is a book that I first saw in 1992 in my first term in the library at high school & I looked at it regularly for the next 7 years. I think it was probably the first big, expensive art book I bought for myself. I loved the shapes and the eco (big in the early 90s) and still do. #52ArtBooks25

31. Back to Japan's Roppongi art triangle. This time to the Suntory Museum of Art & the 2016 retrospective of ceramicist Miyagawa Kozan. This was extraordinary. It was really hard to pick three images to cover the delicacy, the humour & the gravity defying intricacies. Worth a Google 😉 #52ArtBooks25

30. I'm surprised I've waitied this long to share some Rachel Whiteread. This is the other artist I've cried at when I saw their work for real. She's a staple in the art room and I'm a total sucker for a casting - I just adore her work. #52ArtBooks25

29. Off to the Centre Pompidou - Malaga style. This week it's Julio Gonzalez. A Catalan sculptor eclipsed by others and given the opportunity to shine. This was a lovely exhibition and a chance to find someone new through drawings, plans, metal work and biography. #52ArtBooks25

28. I love Norman Ackroyd. I've got 4, but not his watercolours (one-offs are pricey) so I was chuffed to get this book of his many Irish island visits. I love his use of wax resist and love how a few swishes of a brush so accurately portray a place and a feeling. #52ArtBooks25

27. I went to a networking event at Nottingham Contemporary. There were cocktails, jazz & a bit of introverted talking to people. There were also goodie bags & it's only fair this week's #52ArtBooks25 is the first exhibition book the gallery produced. Support your galleries to stay free people 💪

26. Half way through the year, half way through #52ArtBooks25! This week, one of the Grayson's Art Club books. A lovely bubble that came about during the pandemic, bringing together artists (pro and not) with weekly themes. Never managed to get to any of the exhibitions, but do have two books 😊

25. Today it's Fabergé. Can't lie, this is one we got in a sale at the V&A, so not an exhibition we've been to or something I was that interested in beyond the legendary Antiques Roadshow moments 😉. Packed full of pretty objects and the full story. A good, solid #52ArtBooks25

24. Not my usual fodder, this book of Beryl Cook paintings was a leaving present from the first school I TA'd at. It was interesting to thumb through for #52ArtBooks25 - as with lots of artist-focused books, when you see everything rather than just the popular bits, there's a lot more to it.

22. This week it's The Martin Brothers Potters. Late 19th/early 20th century 'art pottery' - probably most recognisable through their grotesque Wally Bird lidded jars, but as this book shows, there was more to the way these four brothers worked. Personally, I love a spoon warmer. #52ArtBooks25

21. Henry Moore: A Shelter Sketchbook. In 1944 sculptor Henry Moore filled two sketchbooks with drawings that captured the Blitz. The majority are of people sheltering in the London Underground. I have loved these for a long time and have three collotypes on the wall 😊 #52ArtBooks25

8. Glass this week. Generally speaking, blown glass is something I appreciate the art form of, but can't quite love. Enter Dale #Chihuly. I was gutted to miss his first show at Kew Gardens, so was thrilled when he did it again in 2019. Glass sculpture in the perfect place. #52ArtBooks25