June 4, 2020 Grayson Perry: The Pre-Therapy Years, ed. Catrin Jones and Chris Stephens Review by Liz Dexter Grayson Perry has achieved the status of National Treasure in the hearts and minds of a large proportion of the…
May 28, 2020 Tracks: Walking the Ancient Landscapes of Britain by Philip Hughes Softback review by Liz Dexter This quietly stunning book will appeal to anyone interested in art, landscape, walking, geology, geography, maps and ancient monuments….
April 7, 2020 A History of Pictures: From the Cave to the Computer Screen by Martin Gayford and David Hockney Reviewed by Liz Dexter This is a new ‘compact’ edition of this book, with a revised final chapter bringing it all up to date,…
January 28, 2020 Art Essentials: Impressionism by Ralph Skea Review by Liz Dexter Another volume in the excellently done Art Essentials series, this volume on Impressionism is written by Ralph Skea, an artist…
October 22, 2019 How to Read a Photograph: Understanding, Interpreting and Enjoying the Great Photographers by Ian Jeffrey Shiny New Books / Review by Liz Dexter Of course,…
October 8, 2019 Art Essentials: Street Art by Simon Armstrong Review by Liz Dexter The Art Essentials series aims to be engaging, accessible, authoritative, richly illustrated and expertly written and conceived, and with a…
September 26, 2019 The Pursuit of Art: Travels, Encounters and Revelations by Martin Gayford “The pursuit of art is a journey that never stops: the more you see, the more you want to see.” First of all much…
September 17, 2019 Futurekind: Design by and for the People by Robert Phillips Review by Liz Dexter Robert Phillips is a senior tutor on the Design Products course at the Royal College of Art, as well as…
June 11, 2019 Chromatopia: An Illustrated History of Colour by David Coles Review by Liz Dexter This truly spectacular book would grace any coffee table with ease, but it’s more than just a pretty face, with…
May 7, 2019 So Much Longing in So Little Space: The Art of Edvard Munch by Karl Ove Knausgaard Translated by Ingvild Burkey Reviewed by Jean Morris This is a book for fans of Karl Ove Knausgaard who also love the work of…
April 2, 2019 Walter Gropius: Visionary Founder of the Bauhaus by Fiona MacCarthy Review by Rob Spence It probably doesn’t occur to many people as they struggle to fix bolt B to batten F of the Ikea…
March 28, 2019 Forms of Enchantment: Writings on Art & Artists by Marina Warner Review by Helen Parry Although Marina Warner is perhaps best known (and deservedly) for her magnificent work on fairy tales, she has long been…
December 6, 2018 The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons, edited by Bob Mankoff Foreword by David Remnick Review by Hayley Anderton I’m old enough to remember encyclopedias, and lucky to have grown up in a house that…
October 23, 2018 Books do furnish a Painting by Jamie Camplin & Maria Ranauro Reviewed by Hayley Anderton Thames and Hudson have got form for publishing tempting books that combine art and literature – Eric Karpeles Paintings in…
April 24, 2018 The Vintage Shetland Project by Susan Crawford Reviewed by Hayley Anderton The Vintage Shetland Project has had quite a journey into print, one that I’ve followed with interest for the last…
January 23, 2018 Unaccompanied Minor by Alexander Newley Review by Annabel The children of celebrity couples inevitably have a hard time growing up, especially when their parents split. You need only think…
October 31, 2017 Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller Review by Hayley Anderton Sharon Miller’s ‘Heirloom Knitting: A Shetland Lace Pattern Book’ had become almost a book of legend before this reprint made…
October 31, 2017 A Forger’s Tale by Shaun Greenhalgh Reviewed by Harriet The subtitle of this fascinating book is ‘Confessions of the Bolton Forger’. Does that ring any bells? If you were keeping…
May 9, 2017 The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington by Joanna Moorhead Reviewed by Karen Langley This year is the centenary of the birth of author and artist Leonora Carrington, and we’re being treated to a…
October 11, 2016 A Shetlander’s Fair Isle Graph Book In Colour Reviewed by Hayley Anderton This is the second book from the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers and Dyers. The first one was A Legacy…
August 13, 2015 Think Like an Artist by Will Gompertz Reviewed by Annabel Many of you will recognise Gompertz in his current role as the BBC’s Arts Editor, a role he fulfills with as…
July 23, 2015 Threads: The Delicate Life of John Craske by Julia Blackburn Reviewed by Victoria It was from a friend that Julia Blackburn first heard about John Craske, a Norfolk fisherman who became a painter and…
October 27, 2014 What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund Reviewed by Rebecca Hussey The immediate effect of reading Peter Mendelsund’s What We See When We Read was to make me want to pick up a…
October 23, 2014 Playing to the Gallery by Grayson Perry Reviewed by Annabel Grayson Perry CBE RA, the Turner Prize-winning transvestite potter, is becoming a national treasure – so much so, that the BBC…
October 22, 2014 The Smile Revolution by Colin Jones Reviewed by Harriet I must admit I was initially drawn to this book by the lovely painting on the cover, a self-portrait by the…
