The holiday season brings normally the same questions every year. There is what will we eat, what should I ask as a gift, and most stressful, what should I gift my loved ones? We all have been there, not sure about our choice, and maybe it is time to think in another way. Maybe it is time to think about what I should wrap and place under the tree for myself. Books are one of the best gifts and another amazing part and you can get a bunch of friends, pick 12 books you all want to read and exchange them every month for the rest of the year. It will feel like the holiday never end!

Here are .ART Team selection of books that we all raved about this year or can’t wait to read during our holidays!

Want something that will trigger your interest and bring you front row of what is going on is Hot Topics in the Art World published by Lund Humphries with Sotheby’s art Institute. The series keeps growing and presenting some of the most critical topics, from restitution to art fairs, private museums, parenthood and the arts and much more. You will get in 100 pages a deep understanding of the issue/topic and feel like you can now play Art Trivia like a champ!

Also, to make the deal a little sweeter, here is a discount code to get 20% off on this series! Visit Lund Humpries website and use the promocode NDHT20

They also have another series that will captivate you New Directions in Contemporary Art. Upcoming in the new year, we will be interviewing the series’ editor Marcus Verhagen, Senior Lecturer, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London and get you all the details on this new series that is engaging and critical.

You can also take a peek at our bookclub – we have had more than 10 books since we started it, and we are sure that one of them will float the marshmallows in your hot cocoa! With topics ranging from the 20 past years of the Art World to the best tales of a curator, fun facts about art history, a rethought version of art history, censorship and controversy of one of the exhibitions of the 2000s, the depiction of women in the arts from mother, to saint, and everything in between, food and art and much more. If you haven’t dived in and – don’t miss your opportunity and remember to participate by commenting on our Instagram post to win your copy of our book club book – and ohhh – SPOILER ALERT – a new one is coming next week just in time to get a free present under your tree!

There are also all the books we introduced to you this year that will help you in your artistic endeavours, from simple tips to books that make your writing better. Maybe a friend or someone from your family wants to kickstart their art career, and this would be the perfect gift.

  • How to Be an Artist by Jerry Saltz
  • Art Thinking by Amy Whitaker
  • Navigating the Art World – Professional Practice for the Early Career Artist by Delphian Gallery
  • How to Write About Contemporary Art by Gilda Williams
  • What they didn’t teach you in art school by Rosalind Davis & Annabel Tilley 
  • What they didn’t teach you in photo school by Demetrius Fordham
  • A Surprisingly Interesting Book About Contracts by Sarah Conley Odenkirk
  • Everybody Writes by Ann Handley ( there is a NEW version!!! )
  • The Artist’s Guide to Public Art by Lynn Basa
  • The Only Grant-Writing Book you’ll ever need by Ellen Karsh & Arlen Sue Fox

Or maybe one of your new year resolution – and hopefully, this one will stick – is to start your collection. There are books for that too! Don’t miss the opportunities to learn the fun and sometimes less fun lessons others learned before you.

  • The Art of Buying Art: An Insider’s Guide to Collecting Contemporary Art by Paige West
  • The Art Collector’s Handbook: The Definitive Guide to Acquiring and Owning Art by Mary Rozell
  • The Intrepid Art Collector. The Beginner’s Guide to Finding, Buying, and Appreciating Art on a Budget by Lisa Hunter
  • A Poor Collector’s Guide to Buying Great Art by Erling Kagge
  • Collecting Art for Love, Money and More by Ethan Wagner & Thea Westreich Wagner

In the meantime, evlyne – what will you be ready next?

I have just finished our next book club book and I can’t wait to introduce it to you! But next there are 2 books; Patti Smith Just Kids ( yes, yes – I KNOW! I am SUPER late to the party!) and one book about one of my biggest strange obession – crime, fraud, fakes in the art world with The Great Canadian Art Fraud Case, The Group of Seven & Tom Thompson Forgeries by Jon S. Dellandre. I feel like everything acquired an aura of mysteries around Tom Thompson, from his death ( google it! ) to his paintings and all… And yes, I will make sure to report on these !

What is your next book? Let us know on social media or by email evlyne Laurin at el@nic.art; maybe your book could be one of our next book club!