100 Books Like Legal Guide for the Visual Artist

I love this book because it not only explores the way in which art gets made, it delves into the reasons art often doesn’t get made, and the difficulties that cause so many artists to give up along the way.

All too often, the give-up factor is prevalent both in the art-making process and in the art-marketing process. I particularly liked the chapter “ Fears of Others,” which offers excellent insights into artists giving their power away. 

As a career coach and artist advocate, I was curious about what the author had to say about the inner workings of the art world. Quite happily, I read an insightful and humorous probe from a writer who sincerely wanted to understand art and its importance.

Bosker is not afraid of naming names when discussing critics, gallery owners, curators, collectors, and artists. She goes undercover, so to speak, and writes about her experiences as a gallery assistant, an artist’s assistant, a museum security guard, and a sales assistant at Art Basel Miami. And to add to her experiences, she tackles the use of the foreign language of “art speak.”   

I can open any page of this book and discover meaningful observations—with lots of food for thought. For two decades, the late artist and educator Walter Darby Bannard reflected on the question, why do young artists struggle to find their voices?

He answered the question with engaging insights based on his personal philosophy. At the urging of a former student, he put his thoughts into a book. But you don’t need to be an aspiring artist to treasure what Bannard has to say; artists at all career levels will be inspired by his words. 

Filled with many humorous pages of ridicule about the modern art world, one big reason that I love this book is Wolfe’s attack on “art speak,” the nauseating language used by critics and artists alike. He smugly suggests that in today’s world, visual art only exists to illustrate the text!

Pretentious prose has become a norm in art world communication. Although artists vehemently criticize this style of writing, unfortunately, many believe that their work will not be taken seriously unless they imitate what they despise.

Adventure awaits when an inkblot from one of Ethan’s dad’s sketches comes to life and leaps off the page. Sydney Smith’s inky illustrations add to the fun of this fast-paced and funny story about friendship and family. And because Inkling loves to read/eat up ink, and he takes on the mood of whatever text he’s just devoured, it’s also a cool and clever introduction for kids to some classics and to different genres of writing. 

What’s more, the book ends on a note that suggests a sequel that I can’t wait to read!

Very well written and informative about super talented, cool Yoko Ono, who many Beatles fans have blamed for years for their favorite band’s break up, but this book shows why that’s completely untrue!

Madeline Bocaro has been very interested in and has had personal encounters with Yoko for several years. She describes her heroine so very well that everyone will begin to appreciate her existence and what she contributed to John Lennon’s life, love, and career!

Basquiat is one of my heroes, and although this book is a bit disjointed at times, I give it full credit for visually representing his creative genius (and torment) in dynamic and interesting ways. The Downtown New York art scene of the 1980s was nuts–and this book takes you there! 

Known to broad public due to the hilarious “Whistler’s Mother” starring Mr. Bean, James Whistler is a paramount American participant in the Fin-de-siècle artistic life of France and England and a predecessor of most important artistic endeavors of the 20th century. Daniel Sutherland combed all possible archives and  produced a stunning study of Whistler’s private life, full of scandals, sufferings, travels, and triumphs. From the childhood Whister spent in the tsarist Russia to his vagabond life in Paris, his life is always a journey and a self-quest. Eminently readable and bright narrative of a somber and paradoxical character.

This book is great because it combines illuminating interviews with leading contemporary artists who draw, such as Cornelia Parker, Dryden Goodwin, and Charles Avery, with no-nonsense practical projects. The book has the atmosphere of an art school studio about it, which is understandable because it has sprung from the authors’ collective 45 years as artists and lecturers. It feels like a creative launchpad, one that will take your drawings in new exciting directions if you’re prepared to give it a go. This is a book you should get dirty in the studio. I can almost taste the charcoal dust in the air reading this book.

One of the most misunderstood artists of the last century has to be Yoko Ono. Donald Brackett, whose written biographies of Amy Winehouse, Tina Turner, and Sharon Jones, has done an excellent job of telling Ono’s story, going way beyond the standard, reductive tales about Ono and her relationship with John Lennon. His book traces Ono’s roots in Japan, her early works of performance art, and her time in New York in the Fifties mixing with the city’s art scene in Soho. Brackett’s love and respect for Ono’s artistic achievements shines throughout its pages.