Get Inspired! Art Books at HCPL

Calling all artists – aspiring, beginner, or expert! HCPL’s collection is full of big, beautiful books of art prints, reproductions, how-to guides, and museum catalogs. These books contain inspiration and instruction for a wide variety of mediums and styles. You can study the work of your favorite artist, explore a particular movement in art history, or learn a new technique.

Who is your favorite artist? Just type their name in the catalog as a subject search to find collections of their art, biographies, and more books about them. Some of our newest acquisitions include:

• Alice Neel: People Come First by Alice Neel
• Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Paintings in Detail by Alessandro Vezzosi
• Howardena Pindell: What Remains to be Seen by Naomi Beckwith
• Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure by Lisane Basquiat
• Faith Ringgold: American People by Faith Ringgold
• Kehinde Wiley: Saint Louis by Kehinde Wiley
• Guerrilla Girls: The Art of Behaving Badly by Guerrilla Girls
• There and Back: Photographs from the Edge by Jimmy Chin

If you don’t have a favorite artist, check out these catalogs from various museum and gallery collections. Collections are a great way to discover new artists and styles.

• Art: The Definitive Visual Guide by Bridgeman Art Library
• 30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time & Space
• Black Refractions: Highlights from the Studio Museum in Harlem by Connie Choi
• Emperors' Treasures: Chinese Art from the National Palace Museum, Taipei by Li He
• A History of Japanese Art: From Prehistory to the Taisho Period by Noritake Tsuda
• Contemporary African Art by Sidney Littlefield Kasfir
• From Kandinsky to Pollock: The Art of the Guggenheim Collections by Luca Massimo Barbero
• Everyday Beauty: Photographs from the National Museum of African American History and Culture by Lonnie G. Bunch, III

Or delve deeper into a single work, artist, or topic:

• The Art of Looking: How to Read Modern and Contemporary Art by Lance Esplund
• Color Scheme: An Irreverent History of Art and Pop Culture in Color Palettes by Edith Young
• Art of Atari by Tim Lapetino
• The Work of Art: Folk Artists in the 21st Century by Carmella Padilla
• Afro-Atlantic Histories by Adriano Pedrosa
• Women in the Picture: What Culture Does with Female Bodies by Catherine McCormack
• Spirits of the Cloth: Contemporary African-American Quilts by Carolyn Mazloomi
• Artcurious: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History by Jennifer Dasal
• Van Gogh and the Artists he Loved by Steven Naifeh
• Queer X Design: 50 Years of Signs, Symbols, Banners, Logos, and Graphic Art of LGBTQ by Andrew Raymond Campbell
• My Soul has Grown Deep: Black Art from the American South by Cheryl Finley
• A Chronology of Photography: A Cultural Timeline from Camera Obscura to Instagram by Paul Lowe

Now that you’re filled with inspiration, check out a how-to book to create your own masterpieces or explore some arts and crafts programs at the Library:

• Open Studio: Do-it-Yourself Art Projects by Contemporary Artists by Sharon Coplan Hurowitz
• The Artist's Manual: The Definitive Art Sourcebook by Rob Pepper
• Colour Demystified: A Complete Guide to Mixing and Using Watercolours by Julie Collins
• Drawing Faces: Learn How to Draw Facial Expressions, Detailed Features, and Lifelike Portraits by Lise Herzog
• Drawing is for Everyone: Simple Lessons to Make Your Creative Practice a Daily Habit by Kateri Ewing
• The New Oil Painting: Your Essential Guide to Materials and Safe Practices by Kimberly Brooks
• Beginner's Guide to Digital Painting in Procreate: How to Create Art on an iPad by Simone Grünewald
• Photo Basics: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Great Photography by Joel Sartore

This is only a small selection of what we have. Stop by any of our libraries to browse the collection and discover something new. The majority of our art books are found in the 700s section of non-fiction. Ask a librarian to help you find them!