The Story of Art
The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The top 50
Art and photography books of all time
Fifty researched picks for the art and photography books of all time, selected for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
How we choseReproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value. Rankings balance consensus with lasting ownership value and current buyability.
Why it belongs →
Ways of Seeing
Ways of Seeing by John Berger is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The Americans
The Americans by Robert Frank is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Workers
Workers by Sebastião Salgado is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Magnum Contact Sheets
Magnum Contact Sheets by Kristen Lubben is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The Letters of Vincent van Gogh
The Letters of Vincent van Gogh by Vincent van Gogh is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The Shock of the New
The Shock of the New by Robert Hughes is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The Agony and the Ecstasy
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism
The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism by Ross King is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The Power of Art
The Power of Art by Simon Schama is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the Legend of Master Forger Han van Meegeren
The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the Legend of Master Forger Han van Meegeren by Jonathan Lopez is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Michelangelo, the Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo, the Sistine Chapel by Stefano Zuffi is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Art Through the Ages
Art Through the Ages by Fred S. Kleiner is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Goya y las Pinturas Negras desde la psicología de Jung
Goya y las Pinturas Negras desde la psicología de Jung by Javier De Prada Pareja is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo
Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
A Life of Picasso, Vol. 1: The Prodigy, 1881-1906
A Life of Picasso, Vol. 1: The Prodigy, 1881-1906 by John Richardson is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The Story of Painting
The Story of Painting by Wendy Beckett is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles
The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles by Martin Gayford is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The Art Spirit
The Art Spirit by Robert Henri is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War
The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War by Lynn H. Nicholas is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Nothing If Not Critical: Selected Essays on Art and Artists
Nothing If Not Critical: Selected Essays on Art and Artists by Robert Hughes is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling
Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Isms: Understanding Art
Isms: Understanding Art by Stephen Little is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye
Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye by Rudolf Arnheim is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
A Natural History of the Senses
A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Art History's History
Art History's History by Vernon Hyde Minor is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Life with Picasso
Life with Picasso by Françoise Gilot is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
A Guide to the Louvre
A Guide to the Louvre by Musée du Louvre is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation
Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation by E.H. Gombrich is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Seven Days in the Art World
Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece
The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece by Jonathan Harr is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The Visual Arts: A History
The Visual Arts: A History by Hugh Honour is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Hieronymus Bosch: Complete Works
Hieronymus Bosch: Complete Works by Stefan Fischer is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Metropolitan Museum of Art Series)
Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Metropolitan Museum of Art Series) by Philippe de Montebello is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Frick Collection: Handbook of Paintings
Frick Collection: Handbook of Paintings by SCALA is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The Painted Word
The Painted Word by Tom Wolfe is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
History of Beauty
History of Beauty by Umberto Eco is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
What Are You Looking At?: 150 Years of Modern Art in a Nutshell
What Are You Looking At?: 150 Years of Modern Art in a Nutshell by Will Gompertz is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Michelangelo: Paintings, Sculpture, Architecture
Michelangelo: Paintings, Sculpture, Architecture by Ludwig Goldscheider is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
One Hundred Flowers
One Hundred Flowers by Georgia O'Keeffe is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Making the Mummies Dance: Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Making the Mummies Dance: Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Thomas Hoving is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Goya
Goya by Robert Hughes is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
About Looking
About Looking by John Berger is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Just Looking: Essays on Art
Just Looking: Essays on Art by John Updike is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
William Blake
William Blake by Robin Hamlyn is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Egon Schiele: Drawings and Watercolors
Egon Schiele: Drawings and Watercolors by Jane Kallir is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Paintings and Drawings
Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Paintings and Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel is a durable art book choice, recognized for reproduction quality, influence, visual coherence and reference value.