Looking to introduce some new artwork into your home? Whether you’re looking to impress guests or just dive deeper, here’s a look at fall’s new art-focused coffee-table books.
“Sam Taylor-Johnson: The Self and The Portrait,” Rizzoli Electa, Sept. 29
Before moving into filmmaking, Sam Taylor-Johnson (née Taylor-Wood) was a fine art photographer, part of London’s Young British Artists group of the late ’80s and ’90s. “The Self and The Portrait” opens with a new series of self-portraits of Taylor-Johnson suspended in water, and revisits some of her earliest portraiture of herself and famous figures, including her intimate Crying Men series, which features teary Hollywood men.
“Tracey Emin: A Second Life,” Abrams, Oct. 6
Another Young British Artist, Tracey Emin’s new monograph follows the release of her conversational narrative book “My Heart Is This: Tracey Emin on Painting” earlier this spring. “Tracey Emin: A Second Life” arrives shortly after the conclusion of the artist’s solo show at the Tate Modern, supported by Gucci, which revisited Emin’s pivotal early works from the 1990s like “My Bed,” shown during the Tate’s 1999 Turner Prize exhibition. The monograph includes a conversation between the artist and former Tate director Maria Balshaw, as well as essays by cultural critics Helen Laville, Josh Cohen, Alvin Li and Johanna Hedva, along with selections of Emin’s own writing and imagery of selected work from her recent exhibition.
“The Abstract Future,” Rizzoli Electa, Oct. 12
Last year, Alia Dahl curated group exhibition “The Abstract Future” for Jeffrey Deitch in Los Angeles, featuring more than 30 contemporary artists who are redefining abstraction across various mediums. That gallery show is now further documented in the form of a new monograph, featuring essays from various writers, critics and curators exploring the work of artists including Kennedy Yanko, Maia Ruth Lee, Uman and more.
“Robert Indiana: An American Icon,” Phaidon Press, Oct. 28
Best known for his “Love” image, created in 1964 and rendered into iconic sculptural form, the Pop Art figure’s canon of work spans painting, sculpture and printmaking. A new book highlights the artist’s enduring impact through essays, archival interviews with Indiana himself and a highlight of the artist’s works created between 1955 and 2006.
“Another View: The Vibrant World of Contemporary Black Artists,” Phaidon Press, Oct. 28
Edited by curator and art scholar Isolde Brielmaier, “Another View” offers an intimate look into the studio practices of 20 leading Black contemporary artists. Featured artists in the book include Theaster Gates, Rashid Johnson, Nina Chanel Abney, Lorna Simpson, Carrie Mae Weems and more, photographed in their creative spaces by Awol Erizku.
“Yohji Yamamoto Drawings,” Thames & Hudson, Oct. 29 in Europe and Nov. 17 in the U.S.
Written by French fashion historian and curator Alexandre Samson, this book of sketches provides an intimate glimpse into Yamamoto’s creative process. Included are 183 never-before-seen menswear and womenswear drawings, which were created by the designer between 1981 — the year of his first runway show — and 1999.
