Artists Studios Resources : E-Audiobooks

Art critic Sebastian Smee tells the fascinating story of four pairs of artists--Manet and Degas, Picasso and Matisse, Pollock and de Kooning, Freud and Bacon--whose fraught, competitive friendships spurred them to new creative heights. Writing with the same exuberant wit and psychological insight that earned him a Pulitzer Prize for art criticism, Sebastian Smee explores here the way that coming into one's own as an artist--finding one's voice--almost always involves willfully breaking away from some intimate's expectations of who you are or ought to be.

Jed Perl embraces the work of creative spirits as varied as Mozart, Michelangelo, Jane Austen, Henry James, Picasso, and Aretha Franklin. He contends that the essence of the arts is their ability to free us from fixed definitions and categories. Whether we are experiencing a poem, a painting, or an opera, it's the interplay between authority and freedom--what Perl calls "the lifeblood of the arts"--that fuels the imaginative experience.

Benvenuto Cellini was a goldsmith and sculptor whose works include the bronze statue of Perseus and the gold salt cellar made for Francis 1. He worked for a variety of patrons, including Popes Clement VII and Paul III. Inn-keepers and prostitutes, kings and cardinals, artists and soldiers rub shoulders in the pages of his autobiography that provides a vivid portrait of the manners and morals of the rulers of the day and of their subjects.

The contemporary art market is an international juggernaut, throwing off multimillion dollar deals as wealthy buyers move from fair to fair, auction to auction, party to glittering party. But none of it would happen without the dealers, the tastemakers who back emerging artists and steer them to success, often to see them picked off by a rival. Michael Shnayerson, a longtime contributing editor to Vanity Fair, writes the first ever definitive history of their activities.

Daily Rituals, explores the daily obstacles and rituals of creative women including artists, painters, sculptors, filmmakers, and performers. We see how these brilliant minds get to work, the choices they have to make: rebuffing convention, stealing time from the pull of husbands, wives, children, obligations, in order to create their work. The rituals (daily and otherwise) guide them to summon up willpower and self-discipline, keeping themselves afloat with optimism and fight, as they create.

From struggles with money and the bitterness of rejection, to spiritual questions of inspiration and authenticity, this book offers insight, solace and courage to help artists on the winding road to artistic fulfilment.

William Deresiewicz the contemporary culture critic argues that we are in the midst of an epochal transformation within art. Whereas the 19th century considered artists to be craftsmen and the 20th century treated them as professionals, artists today are uniquely dependent upon themselves. The internet, decreases in art funding and the growing prevalence of gig economies, has forced artists to become responsible for every aspect of their work, from conception to promotion, from sales to legacy.

Bestselling author, artist, and illustrator Lisa Congdon brings her expertise to the table in this guide to the process of artistic self-discovery. Featuring advice from Congdon herself and interviews with a roster of established artists, illustrators, and creatives, this book will teach readers to identify and nurture their own visual identities, navigate the influence of artists they admire, push through fear and insecurity, and appreciate the value of their unique personal journeys.

In this inspiring collection of essays, writer and critic Olivia Laing makes a brilliant case for why art matters, especially in the turbulent political weather of the twenty-first century. With characteristic originality and compassion, She celebrates art as a force of resistance and repair, an antidote to a frightening political time. Laing argues that art changes how we see the world, and it offers fertile new ways of living.

The vividly told, gloriously illustrated memoir of an artist born with disabilities who searches for freedom and connection in a society afraid of strange bodies.

A revealing memoir and family history from photographer Sally Mann, and a unique interplay of narrative and image, Mann's preoccupation with family, race, mortality, and the storied landscape of the American South are revealed as almost genetically predetermined, written into her DNA by the family history that precedes her.

Artist David Salle explores how art works as it it moves, informs, and challenges us. This collection of essays illuminates the work of many of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. He writes with humor and verve, replacing the jargon of art theory with precise and evocative descriptions that help readers develop a personal and intuitive engagement with art. Listen to the podcast of David Salle discussing his book with poet, critic and novelist Ben Lerner, in the Interviews & Podcasts section.

Set in New York's Lower East Side of the 1980s and mid-1990s, Peter McGough’s memoir of his life with artist David McDermott is a devastatingly candid look at the extreme naiveté and dysfunction that would destroy both their lives. Escaping the trauma of growing up gay in Syracuse and being bullied at school, McGough attended art school in New York, dropped out, and took out jobs in clubs, where he met McDermott. Dazzled by McDermott, whom he found fascinating and worldly, McGough agreed to collaborate with him. By the mid-1980s, McDermott & McGough were hugely successful, showing at three Whitney Biennials, represented by the best galleries here and abroad, and known for their painting, photography and "time experiment" interiors. This is a compelling memoir for our time, told with humor and compassion.

An Italian Mannerist architect and painter, Giorgio Vasari was acquainted with many of the most famous artists of his day. He is best-known today for his biographies of artists including Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian, and Giotto. This recording is read with clarity and authority by Neville Jason.

Set amid the most turbulent social and political period of modern times, Ninth Street Women is the impassioned, wild, sometimes tragic, exhilarating chronicle of five women who dared to enter the male-dominated world of twentieth-century abstract painting -- not as muses but as artists. From their cold-water lofts, where they worked, drank, fought, and loved, these pioneers burst open the door to the art world for themselves and countless others to come.

This volume claims to reveal the truths hiding between the lines of Instagram-friendly aphorisms and behind the words of the most inspirational TED talks, as it looks at the reality of creativity and the joy and difficulty of crafting good (and bad) art.

The author addresses the scope of Modern Art, from its founding days as Abstract Expressionism through its transformations to Pop, Op, Minimal, and Conceptual.

How can we create and market creative works that achieve longevity? Ryan Holiday explores this mystery by drawing on his extensive experience working with businesses and creators such as Google, American Apparel, and the author John Grisham, and also his interviews with the minds behind some of the greatest perennial sellers of our time. By thinking holistically about the relationship between their audience and their work, creators of all kinds can improve the chances that their offerings will stand the test of time.

In the modern world, influence is everything and personal branding equals influence. Platform is the why-to, how-to handbook for everyone who wants to develop and manage a personal brand.

The author investigates the drama of a Christie's auction, the workings in Takashi Murakami's studios, the elite at Basel Art Fair, the eccentricities of Artforum magazine, the competition behind an important art prize, life in a notorious art-school seminar, and the wonderland of Venice Biennale. She reveals the dynamics of creativity, taste, status, and the search for meaning in life.

In this powerful and hopeful account, arts writer, curator, and activist Kimberly Drew reminds us that the art world has space not just for the elite, but for everyone.

Curator Sarah Urist Green left her office in the basement of an art museum to travel and visit a diverse range of artists, asking them to share prompts that relate to their own ways of working. This book brings together more than 50 assignments gathered from some of the most innovative creators working today, including Sonya Clark, Michelle Grabner, The Guerrilla Girls, Fritz Haeg, Pablo Helguera, Alec Soth, Gillian Wearing, and many others.