What a wonderful idea! There are quiet rooms in the complex, outside the museum proper, but the main section seems to always be packed! Thrilled to have you joining in!
This is great - so many good books! And you've managed to film yourself glowing in white which adds a certain air of divine inspiration ! So good to see.
Wow! I have just added a bunch more books to my TBR. Thanks for this, Hannah. I’m especially intrigued by Girl Reading. I used to have a collection of art postcards that I had purchased in various European museum shops, all of them featuring women reading. I’m a fan of Olivia Laing’s style and particularly enjoyed Lonely City. And thanks for mentioning The Mixed-Up Files. I have good memories of that book too. Rereading it sounds like a delightful prospect.
@@HannahsBooks I like to travel light, so art postcards are nice souvenirs. I had them blu-tacked to my kitchen cupboards for years until the older ones became rather shabby.
Such a fabulous idea Hannah. I have many unread art books lying about the house. I listened to Thunderclap on audio a few months ago after its inclusion on the Women's Prize for nonfiction, and leafed through a library copy to look at the pictures. I loved it so much that I'd love to reread, and of course I bought my own copy, and then bought another of Laura Cumming's other books. Reading a book never lessens your TBR...
I am delighted you are a host for this. I have a book saved for this already Spirit of Place by Susan Owens that is about the relationship between artists and the British landscape. And now I have the fun of planning a gallery excursion too.
Spirit of Place sounds amazing! Sounds like a book for me, too, with its emphasis on place and its connection to creativity. So glad you're planning to participate!
It is a fascinating museum--for the building and its history as much as for the art there. When I went, it was so crowded that it was almost hard to appreciate parts of it fully--so if you can find a quiet time to be there, I wold certainly recommend it!
I'm all in. As an artist (abstract painter), this subject really excites me. I have loved watching all the announcement videos and I'm getting a good list of books together. For the create an art piece prompt, I'm going to challenge myself to do something differently (not sure yet what that looks like yet) and see how it feels and what I learn from the experience.
What an excellent project! I hope you will consider making a little video about what you can do. I'm no techie expert, but I'd be happy to help in any way I can--and even post it on my channel if you're interested!
@@HannahsBooks That sounds like a great idea! I'm horrible at tech, but I think I could try to put something together. Maybe a time lapse of the process? I could send that to you. Let me think how best that might work.
@@ariannefowler455 I think you could attach it via gmail and it would send by google drive. My email is listed at the bottom of the video. Email me and we can work out details!
This readathon is so up my alley! I’m so excited to come up with my own list. All the Beauty in the World and Lonely City sound interesting, I love art-related memoirs. Old in Art School sounds wonderful. My Mom went back to art school while I was in high school and I love that idea of reinventing or starting over. I would love to go to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum someday, I’m a huge John Singer Sargent fan. I’m really interested in the new biography about her and the book about the heist too. So Much Blue, Cat’s Eye, and Girl Reading all sound wonderful too. What a perfect excuse to finally spend some time in DC museums, I’m so excited!
(And perhaps we could meet up at one of the DC museums sometime during the month? My schedule is crazy for the next few months, but I'd love to try to find a time to meet, if you're interested.)
9:52 i was in upstate NY in a wonderful used bookstore and the owner and I got to talking about Everett. He’s working on a project with an artist friend of hers to create the painting from So Much Blue with the plan for it to meet the same fate as the one in the novel. Definitely something to keep an eye on!!!
I have spent much of the last half century exploring the intersection of art and literature so your September plans look absolutely enthralling. Having grown up just outside NYC and become a museum addict at an early age it may be that the charming children's book "From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" determined much in the course of my life. Several videos currently in progress fit the bill for your project and I can contribute something on Hopper and the aesthetics of noir, and filmmaker Lars von Trier's use of painting, and the constant cross influence between Victorian art and Victorian poetry. Nicely done as always and I'm thrilled to see how this lovely idea takes shape.
I received a retirement gift from a coworker that suits this Art themed month. She gave me a copy of The Lady in Gold The extraordinary tale of Gustave Klimt's Masterpiece Portrait of Adele Boch-Bauer. She also gifted me the film starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds. I happened to pick up Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood at the Used Book Superstore in Burlington MA for 79 cents. on the clearance shelf. I have not read anything by Margaret Atwood yet so I am glad you favored this one over some of her others. I brought my Mom to the Isabella Stewart Gardener museum a few years back. It is a stark reminder of the theft to see the empty frames where the artwork once was. I'm glad you enjoyed your time in Massachusetts. I feel fortunate to call it my home state.
The Lady in Gold sounds wonderful. The film is a version of the book? Sounds like something I should track down! Yes, those empty frames are very powerful... Perhaps when I am in Massachusetts sometime in the future, we could meet up?
This is absolutely wonderful!!!I'm so glad there's finally an art readathon! Since I'm a completionist and I always want to finish all the prompts, which sometimes leaves me burnt out by the end of the month, I'm happy that there are only two of them.😂 I also want to read All the Beauty in the World, it's available on Scribd. I've just finished a fiction book about Frida Kahlo by Slavenka Drakulić (I read it in Croatian, but I think it's called Frida's Bed in English). I loved it, so I think I might read her book Dora and the Minotaur: My Life with Picasso. It's about his muse Dora Maar, who was also an artist. Looking forward to this readathon!🎉
I'm so glad you're thinking of participating. The novel about Kahlo sounds fascinating! Thanks for the suggestion. And thanks for telling me All the Beauty is on Scribd. I haven't used Scribd before, but I might use their free trial in September!
@@HannahsBooks You're welcome! Sribd is now called Evarand, but I forget every time. I used to like it a lot more. Now they don't let you read more than 4 books I think, maybe 5 the most. The policy is quite unclear. But a free trial might be a good idea. :)
Thank you so much for dreaming up this event and for inviting me to participate! I'm so pleased to see that several people are considering All the Beauty!
I visited the Gardner Museum and remember liking it, but not much else. I’d like to get back to reassess what I think of the Piano wing. He did Chicago’s Art Institute, and I disliked it on first sight but have come to be happy with it over the years.
@@davidnovakreadspoetry I love the Art Institute, because of the quality of what they display. I love the National Gallery of Art particularly because of their often-stellar curation. I love the Gardner because of the house itself and its history. On this trip, the ISG was so crowded that it was sometimes difficult to focus on the art.
Chasing Beauty, a biography of Isabelle Stewart Gardner, came out a free months ago, I’m halfway through and she’s just sparking the idea of building a museum.
An art readathon sounds so fun! I already have a book in mind called Art on the Edge and Over: Searching for Art's Meaning in Contemporary Society 1970s-1990s by Linda Weintraub. It would work for this readathon but also fits into my reading goal this year which is to read books that have the potential to be banned if things go horribly wrong in the near future.
Ehat a great idea Hannah and some fascinating recommendations . I can second Olivia Lange whose writing is always very honest , and who gave me new insights into Warhol's work . her other collection Finny Weather is as good . Ive just read The Artist of Disappearance by Anita Desai where her three stories explore creativity , acquisition and appropriation of art in really clever ways . And you get to travel to India as a bonus
I haven't read any Laing yet, but I have her new gardening book on my list. I'm so glad to hear you like her writing! The Desai book sounds fascinating!
Oh goodness, there are so many books I could choose for this. I've had Maynard Solomon's biographies of Mozart and Schubert sitting on my shelves for ages; art essays by John Berger or Robert Hughes; Robert Calasso's book on Tiepolo. And I think I already know what piece I would want to talk about: Louise Bourgeois's sculpture "Maman," which provoked me and made me think for decades now and from which I never walk away without realizing something anew. I'm really going to try to make time for this!
Wonderful! And you have an amazing list of books. I can't wait to hear your discussion of Maman. As for music, I'm thinking about reading a bio of Aaron Copland or possibly rereading a book about a luthier who often crafts instruments for musicians who regularly play Strads and Guarneri violins.
This sounds fun. I hope I'll be able to participate. At this point, I don't think I can promise anything. I think my library has a book about Harlem's ballet.
I love ekphrastic poetry &, not surprisingly, there's some brilliant stuff out there. I am about to participate in an ekphrastic poetry festival at the Art Gallery of The Blue Mountains. I'm pretty excited about the chance to engage with visual imagery & work out how to respond to it through poetry - so much joy.
How fascinating! I would love to hear more about your experience the the festival. I see you have a channel and am hoping you'll make a video about it!
You might also want to check out Jane Langton’s “Murder at the Gardner” written several years before the heist (She was questioned by police). She also does wonderful line drawings in all her books. Jilly Cooper does a couple of books set in the world of classical music and opera, thus allowing me to combine GarbAugust and this event. Life is good.
@@HannahsBooks Yes, Langton gave an interview to NPR when the actual heist occurred. Her book was published in 1988 and I believe the actual heist was 1990. Jilly Cooper's books are far too long. I'm reading "Score!" which clocks in at about 800 pages. In the book a murder occurs on an estate as a cast and crew are filming Verdi's "Don Carlos." One of Cooper's saving graces is her sense of humor. One of the divas explains that she could not possibly have murdered the opera's conductor because she was watching a move of "Pride and Prejudice" at the time. A young female police detective asks her who her favorite character is. "Emma Woodhouse," she replies.
@@StephaniePatterson-jb5it Ha! Only in a novel would a police officer ask someone about a favorite fictional character... I am thinking someone needs to write a novel about a novelist who plans out a heist or a murder in her novel and then carries in out in real life... and then someone can write a novel about that story...
Loving the announcements, I'd love to participate but it might be too much for my already big reading plans. From the books I own I don't think I actually have that many that would be about art but I have 'Uproar!: Satire, Scandal & Printmakers in Georgian London' by lovely Alice Loxton :) I saw there are even some pictures inside. I really like that cover of Cat's Eye. I've only read Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace and liked them both. Thought I'd put down some ideas based on the books I have already read: Thunderclap (L. Cumming) about old Dutch art & abstract art; and Painter to the king (A. Sackville) about Velazquez. If stretched a little more, An artist of the floating world by Ishiguro would work :D I've recently read and loved War & Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans, I highly recommend this one. I have just remembered that Julian Barnes wrote a collection of essays on art - Keeping an eye open - which I have been curious about, this is quite tempting! :) Also, I've always wanted to read about Arthur Rackham and there's some old biography of his lingering in my online cart... I've also wanted to read Van Gogh's letters. This isn't good, my TBR is exploding already :D
"Uproar" looks really interesting! I have heard so many good things about Thunderclap and have been thinking I wanted to add it to my possibilities list. The Hertmans sounds really interesting, too. Actually, all the books you mention sound fascinating!
I absolutely love this idea and I will definitely participate. Maybe I'll read a book about art at the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum!
What a wonderful idea! There are quiet rooms in the complex, outside the museum proper, but the main section seems to always be packed! Thrilled to have you joining in!
This is right up my alley and I’m very excited to stack my month full of art books!
Yay! I'm so glad you will be joining, and I can't wait to see what you choose to read!
This is a wonderful idea! Thank you and your cohosts for coming up with this.
Thank you so much, Mark! We'd love to have you join in the fun!
This is great - so many good books! And you've managed to film yourself glowing in white which adds a certain air of divine inspiration ! So good to see.
Ha! I just arrived home from my trip and everything but my oversized white t-shirt is in need of a wash!
All the Beauty in the World was such a surprise hit for me last year! Such a beautiful meditative piece. Great in audio too - the narrator does it!
I adored it too-and he was a wonderful narrator!
This sounds like a real treat. Great suggestions! I think pulling together a reading list will be half the fun.
So happy to have you join, Julia! I hope you will share your possibilities list at some point!
Oh wow! Great announcement! 😍 I'm so excited for this event, I'm glad Elizabeth came up with this! ❤
@@marianamasbooks Me too! And I am so glad to hear that you’re thinking of joining in!
@@HannahsBooks I’m definitely in!! 😍
@@marianamasbooks Yay!
Very excited for this. Great recommendations too. 😊💙
@@BookwormAdventureGirl I’m so glad you’re thinking about participating! I’m eager to hear what people decide to read and see!
Sounds like a fun event! 👍
@@RememberedReads I’m looking forward to it! So good to see you!
All of these announcements are getting me excited! I have some books in mind but I'm still mulling it over. I love this event concept.
@@readandre-read Ooh, I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
I listened to All the Beauty in the World and enjoyed it. It is narrated by the author and is well done.
Excellent, Eve! I'm thrilled to hear this. I think I will search out a copy of the audio, then!
Wow! I have just added a bunch more books to my TBR. Thanks for this, Hannah. I’m especially intrigued by Girl Reading. I used to have a collection of art postcards that I had purchased in various European museum shops, all of them featuring women reading.
I’m a fan of Olivia Laing’s style and particularly enjoyed Lonely City. And thanks for mentioning The Mixed-Up Files. I have good memories of that book too. Rereading it sounds like a delightful prospect.
@@lindysmagpiereads I love the fact that you collected art postcards of women reading! What a great focus! I can’t wait for September…
@@HannahsBooks I like to travel light, so art postcards are nice souvenirs. I had them blu-tacked to my kitchen cupboards for years until the older ones became rather shabby.
Such a fabulous idea Hannah. I have many unread art books lying about the house. I listened to Thunderclap on audio a few months ago after its inclusion on the Women's Prize for nonfiction, and leafed through a library copy to look at the pictures. I loved it so much that I'd love to reread, and of course I bought my own copy, and then bought another of Laura Cumming's other books. Reading a book never lessens your TBR...
You are so right that reading doesn't lessen but rather expands your TBR! I've heard such wonderful things about Thunderclap!
Girl Reading sounds very interesting. Great idea for a readathon!
Doesn't it?! I'm hoping I can borrow a library copy of Girl Reading. (My book-buying budget is already blown, after my Boston purchases!)
This sounds like a great readathon and I love the recommendations you've made. I'll have to check them out.
I’m so glad they interest you! We’re so glad so many people are thinking about joining us!
How nice to see one of Everett’s earlier works getting a little attention. So Much Blue is one of my favorites of his.
Oh wonderful! I am so glad to hear that! I have not read it yet, but it has been on my list for some time now.
I'm super stoked for this project!
Oh, I am so pleased! I can't wait to hear about what you choose to read!
Beautiful, I’m in!!!
@@TheYellowBusLifeReset Wonderful! Welcome!
I’m enjoying all the announcements for this event: looks like fun.
@@GenreBooks23 I have some pretty amazing co-hosts with wonderfully creative announcements!
I am delighted you are a host for this. I have a book saved for this already Spirit of Place by Susan Owens that is about the relationship between artists and the British landscape. And now I have the fun of planning a gallery excursion too.
Spirit of Place sounds amazing! Sounds like a book for me, too, with its emphasis on place and its connection to creativity. So glad you're planning to participate!
Next time i go to Boston, that museum is on my shortlist! And i did not know about the heist - how interesting!
It is a fascinating museum--for the building and its history as much as for the art there. When I went, it was so crowded that it was almost hard to appreciate parts of it fully--so if you can find a quiet time to be there, I wold certainly recommend it!
I'm all in. As an artist (abstract painter), this subject really excites me. I have loved watching all the announcement videos and I'm getting a good list of books together. For the create an art piece prompt, I'm going to challenge myself to do something differently (not sure yet what that looks like yet) and see how it feels and what I learn from the experience.
What an excellent project! I hope you will consider making a little video about what you can do. I'm no techie expert, but I'd be happy to help in any way I can--and even post it on my channel if you're interested!
@@HannahsBooks That sounds like a great idea! I'm horrible at tech, but I think I could try to put something together. Maybe a time lapse of the process? I could send that to you. Let me think how best that might work.
@@ariannefowler455 I think you could attach it via gmail and it would send by google drive. My email is listed at the bottom of the video. Email me and we can work out details!
This readathon is so up my alley! I’m so excited to come up with my own list. All the Beauty in the World and Lonely City sound interesting, I love art-related memoirs. Old in Art School sounds wonderful. My Mom went back to art school while I was in high school and I love that idea of reinventing or starting over. I would love to go to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum someday, I’m a huge John Singer Sargent fan. I’m really interested in the new biography about her and the book about the heist too. So Much Blue, Cat’s Eye, and Girl Reading all sound wonderful too. What a perfect excuse to finally spend some time in DC museums, I’m so excited!
I'm so glad you're thinking about joining us! I can't wait to see what you pick out to read--and what you go see!
(And perhaps we could meet up at one of the DC museums sometime during the month? My schedule is crazy for the next few months, but I'd love to try to find a time to meet, if you're interested.)
@@HannahsBooks Yes! I would love to. I'll message you on voxer soon :)
I honestly want to read every last one of these
I know the feeling! Booktube has not made it easy to keep my TBR under control! I'm eager to hear what you think if you pick any of them up.
Lots of great suggestions. I’m fascinated with the idea of art theft.
Yes--me too--perhaps especially when this many years go by with no real leads or appearances!
Thanks for all the book recommendations. The theft of art from the Gardner museum breaks my heart.
Seeing the empty frames hanging on the walls is so powerful.
9:52 i was in upstate NY in a wonderful used bookstore and the owner and I got to talking about Everett. He’s working on a project with an artist friend of hers to create the painting from So Much Blue with the plan for it to meet the same fate as the one in the novel. Definitely something to keep an eye on!!!
@@NerdyNurseReads oh my!
I have spent much of the last half century exploring the intersection of art and literature so your September plans look absolutely enthralling. Having grown up just outside NYC and become a museum addict at an early age it may be that the charming children's book "From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" determined much in the course of my life. Several videos currently in progress fit the bill for your project and I can contribute something on Hopper and the aesthetics of noir, and filmmaker Lars von Trier's use of painting, and the constant cross influence between Victorian art and Victorian poetry. Nicely done as always and I'm thrilled to see how this lovely idea takes shape.
@@art.and.lit.matters How wonderful! I can’t wait to see what you do. And what a wonderful story about Mixed-Up Files!
I received a retirement gift from a coworker that suits this Art themed month. She gave me a copy of The Lady in Gold The extraordinary tale of Gustave Klimt's Masterpiece Portrait of Adele Boch-Bauer. She also gifted me the film starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds. I happened to pick up Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood at the Used Book Superstore in Burlington MA for 79 cents. on the clearance shelf. I have not read anything by Margaret Atwood yet so I am glad you favored this one over some of her others. I brought my Mom to the Isabella Stewart Gardener museum a few years back. It is a stark reminder of the theft to see the empty frames where the artwork once was. I'm glad you enjoyed your time in Massachusetts. I feel fortunate to call it my home state.
The Lady in Gold sounds wonderful. The film is a version of the book? Sounds like something I should track down! Yes, those empty frames are very powerful... Perhaps when I am in Massachusetts sometime in the future, we could meet up?
@@HannahsBooks I would love to meet you. Now that I'm retired I will have plenty of time for visiting!
@@HannahsBooksI forgot to mention that the film goes by the same name as the book.
@@marciajohansson769 Thanks! Sounds wonderful.
@@marciajohansson769 Wonderful!
This is absolutely wonderful!!!I'm so glad there's finally an art readathon! Since I'm a completionist and I always want to finish all the prompts, which sometimes leaves me burnt out by the end of the month, I'm happy that there are only two of them.😂
I also want to read All the Beauty in the World, it's available on Scribd.
I've just finished a fiction book about Frida Kahlo by Slavenka Drakulić (I read it in Croatian, but I think it's called Frida's Bed in English). I loved it, so I think I might read her book Dora and the Minotaur: My Life with Picasso. It's about his muse Dora Maar, who was also an artist.
Looking forward to this readathon!🎉
I'm so glad you're thinking of participating. The novel about Kahlo sounds fascinating! Thanks for the suggestion. And thanks for telling me All the Beauty is on Scribd. I haven't used Scribd before, but I might use their free trial in September!
@@HannahsBooks You're welcome! Sribd is now called Evarand, but I forget every time. I used to like it a lot more. Now they don't let you read more than 4 books I think, maybe 5 the most. The policy is quite unclear. But a free trial might be a good idea. :)
Thank you for cohosting! I love your suggestions. All the Beauty in the World will probably be on my pile of possibilities too.
Thank you so much for dreaming up this event and for inviting me to participate! I'm so pleased to see that several people are considering All the Beauty!
I visited the Gardner Museum and remember liking it, but not much else. I’d like to get back to reassess what I think of the Piano wing. He did Chicago’s Art Institute, and I disliked it on first sight but have come to be happy with it over the years.
@@davidnovakreadspoetry I love the Art Institute, because of the quality of what they display. I love the National Gallery of Art particularly because of their often-stellar curation. I love the Gardner because of the house itself and its history. On this trip, the ISG was so crowded that it was sometimes difficult to focus on the art.
Chasing Beauty, a biography of Isabelle Stewart Gardner, came out a free months ago, I’m halfway through and she’s just sparking the idea of building a museum.
An art readathon sounds so fun! I already have a book in mind called Art on the Edge and Over: Searching for Art's Meaning in Contemporary Society 1970s-1990s by Linda Weintraub. It would work for this readathon but also fits into my reading goal this year which is to read books that have the potential to be banned if things go horribly wrong in the near future.
@@tealorturquoise That sounds wonderful! I can’t wait to hear more about it!
Ehat a great idea Hannah and some fascinating recommendations . I can second Olivia Lange whose writing is always very honest , and who gave me new insights into Warhol's work . her other collection Finny Weather is as good . Ive just read The Artist of Disappearance by Anita Desai where her three stories explore creativity , acquisition and appropriation of art in really clever ways . And you get to travel to India as a bonus
I haven't read any Laing yet, but I have her new gardening book on my list. I'm so glad to hear you like her writing! The Desai book sounds fascinating!
Oh goodness, there are so many books I could choose for this. I've had Maynard Solomon's biographies of Mozart and Schubert sitting on my shelves for ages; art essays by John Berger or Robert Hughes; Robert Calasso's book on Tiepolo. And I think I already know what piece I would want to talk about: Louise Bourgeois's sculpture "Maman," which provoked me and made me think for decades now and from which I never walk away without realizing something anew. I'm really going to try to make time for this!
Wonderful! And you have an amazing list of books. I can't wait to hear your discussion of Maman. As for music, I'm thinking about reading a bio of Aaron Copland or possibly rereading a book about a luthier who often crafts instruments for musicians who regularly play Strads and Guarneri violins.
This sounds fun. I hope I'll be able to participate. At this point, I don't think I can promise anything. I think my library has a book about Harlem's ballet.
Ooh, I can't wait to hear about Harlem's ballet!
I love ekphrastic poetry &, not surprisingly, there's some brilliant stuff out there. I am about to participate in an ekphrastic poetry festival at the Art Gallery of The Blue Mountains. I'm pretty excited about the chance to engage with visual imagery & work out how to respond to it through poetry - so much joy.
How fascinating! I would love to hear more about your experience the the festival. I see you have a channel and am hoping you'll make a video about it!
@@HannahsBooks: definitely. I would love to share some of my ekphrastic poetry.
Wonderful!
You might also want to check out Jane Langton’s “Murder at the Gardner” written several years before the heist (She was questioned by police). She also does wonderful line drawings in all her books. Jilly Cooper does a couple of books set in the world of classical music and opera, thus allowing me to combine GarbAugust and this event. Life is good.
Ooh, yes to the Langton book! She was really questioned by the police?! Wow. I would love to hear your thoughts on the Jilly Cooper books, too!
@@HannahsBooks Yes, Langton gave an interview to NPR when the actual heist occurred. Her book was published in 1988 and I believe the actual heist was 1990. Jilly Cooper's books are far too long. I'm reading "Score!" which clocks in at about 800 pages. In the book a murder occurs on an estate as a cast and crew are filming Verdi's "Don Carlos." One of Cooper's saving graces is her sense of humor. One of the divas explains that she could not possibly have murdered the opera's conductor because she was watching a move of "Pride and Prejudice" at the time. A young female police detective asks her who her favorite character is. "Emma Woodhouse," she replies.
@@StephaniePatterson-jb5it Ha! Only in a novel would a police officer ask someone about a favorite fictional character... I am thinking someone needs to write a novel about a novelist who plans out a heist or a murder in her novel and then carries in out in real life... and then someone can write a novel about that story...
Wonderful list! You might also like Leonard Schlain’s book ‘Art and Physics’
Sounds interesting! Thank you!
I'd like to read one of Laura Cumming's books
@@clarepotter7584 I have heard great things about Thunderclap!
Loving the announcements, I'd love to participate but it might be too much for my already big reading plans. From the books I own I don't think I actually have that many that would be about art but I have 'Uproar!: Satire, Scandal & Printmakers in Georgian London' by lovely Alice Loxton :) I saw there are even some pictures inside.
I really like that cover of Cat's Eye. I've only read Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace and liked them both.
Thought I'd put down some ideas based on the books I have already read: Thunderclap (L. Cumming) about old Dutch art & abstract art; and Painter to the king (A. Sackville) about Velazquez. If stretched a little more, An artist of the floating world by Ishiguro would work :D I've recently read and loved War & Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans, I highly recommend this one.
I have just remembered that Julian Barnes wrote a collection of essays on art - Keeping an eye open - which I have been curious about, this is quite tempting! :) Also, I've always wanted to read about Arthur Rackham and there's some old biography of his lingering in my online cart... I've also wanted to read Van Gogh's letters. This isn't good, my TBR is exploding already :D
"Uproar" looks really interesting! I have heard so many good things about Thunderclap and have been thinking I wanted to add it to my possibilities list. The Hertmans sounds really interesting, too. Actually, all the books you mention sound fascinating!