11 Books That Will Transform Your Understanding of Art

The realm of art is so vast that it’s impossible to know everything about it. There is always another artist, another obscure work, another point of biography or history or some other tidbit waiting to sharpen one’s artistic awareness. Even the most experienced art aficionados and scholars remain perpetual students, circling back through the past as they try to make sense of the present. The best books on art don’t just fill gaps in knowledge—they reshape how we see, training the eye and deepening our sensitivity to the cultural, political and personal forces that shape artistic production. To that end, the following selection of the best books offers a wide-ranging education on everything from singular artistic lives to seismic art movements to the philosophical and psychological conditions that make art possible in the first place. Whether you’re new to art or a seasoned art collector, there is something to be learned in these pages by us all.