Reading List: New Library Acquisitions

The Frick Art Research Library’s vast collections continue to grow, even as the renovation of our historic reading room nears completion behind the scenes. This list represents outstanding examples of a variety of materials published in 2024 and acquired by the library for public use—just a taste of some of the wonderful publications we’re excited for you to discover when we reopen in April.

Our books collection comprises exhibition catalogues, scholarly monographs, biographies, and catalogues raisonnés, as well as a trove of research tools. We invite you to consult our collection development policy for more information on the library’s holdings.

1. Guillaume Lethière

   Edited by Esther Bell and Olivier Meslay (2024)

   This catalogue is an excellent example of the power of scholarship to present the work of important artists whose reputations have been erased by time and prejudice. A Caribbean-born French painter, Guillaume Lethière achieved success in the Neoclassical style and was an influential professor at Paris’s École des Beaux-Arts. Discover the artist’s career along with sumptuous reproductions and carefully researched histories of his works in this rich exploration of an overlooked figure.

   

2. Portrait of a Woman: Art, Rivalry & Revolution in the Life of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard

   By Bridget Quinn (2024)

   Author Bridget Quinn adds fictional touches to this inspiring biography of French court painter Adélaïde Labille-Guiard. The artist rose from a common background to become a prolific miniaturist and portraitist to the aristocracy in the decades leading up to the French Revolution. The tenacity and daring required to navigate the patronage of the court are brought to life by the inclusion of letters and diary entries of her contemporaries. This fresh take on art historical writing makes for an enthralling read.

   

3. Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900–1939

   By Robyn Asleson (2024)

   In this National Portrait Gallery publication, learn about the lives of sixty expatriate women who thrived in the artistic and intellectual capital of Paris. Drawn to the center of innovation and creativity—and opportunities lacking in provincial America—these women pushed racial and gender boundaries in an environment of experimentation, often in unmistakably different directions than their male counterparts. The intellectual seriousness of Gertrude Stein coupled with the risqué primitivism of Josephine Baker, among others, combined to make a tremendous impact on twentieth-century culture.

   

4. Making the Unknown Known: Women in Early Texas Art, 1860s–1960s

   Edited by Victoria H. Cummins and Light Townsend Cummins (2024)

   Americans returning from Paris spread its cultural innovations as instructors and teachers. As recounted in this groundbreaking publication, women were at the forefront of the spread of modernity in Texas—essential to the development of a distinct regionalist movement by the 1930s, and pioneers of abstract and color field painting in the 1960s. Explore the careers and works of the many influential artists discussed in this groundbreaking publication, including Eleanor Onderdonk, Florence McClung, and Dorothy LaSelle (plus artist and teacher Frank Reaugh, with whom my grandmother studied!).

   

5. Tulips & Peacocks: William Morris and Art from the Islamic World

   By Rowan Bain (2024)

   Key to his development of intricate decorative designs was William Morris’s understanding of mathematical formulae used extensively throughout Islamic art. The influential British artist, designer, writer, and theorist collected scores of objects for reference and inspiration, which are presented in this illuminating catalogue. Ceramics, miniature paintings, and textiles demonstrate the interwoven strands of organic exuberance and precision planning vital to the Arts and Crafts movement. The book also discusses the colonialism that facilitated Morris’s collection and the continuing influence Islamic art has on British design today.

   

6. Jack Bush Paintings: A Catalogue Raisonné

   By Sarah Stanners (2024)

   This glorious catalogue raisonné presents all the known works of color field painter Jack Bush, who developed a method of laying thin washes of color in radiant blocks against neutral grounds. A leading figure in Canadian art in the 1950s, Bush garnered international acclaim and was promoted by the influential critic Clement Greenberg. Enjoy this luxurious celebration of abstract art, with generous color reproductions of every work, plus documentary photography and thorough provenance research.

   

7. Matthew Wong, Vincent van Gogh: Painting as a Last Resort

   Edited by Joost van der Hoeven (2024)

   Landscape painting’s role as a psychic defense against the anxieties of modern life is examined in this pairing of two visionary artists. Van Gogh’s subjects and methods were admired and replicated by Canadian artist Matthew Wong, whom we lost in 2019. This comparison of the two artists’ works assembled by the Van Gogh Museum serves as a rich introduction to Wong’s emotional works and their connection to familiar masterpieces.

   

8. Matisse and the Sea

   By Simon Kelly (2024)

   The Saint Louis Art Museum brings us this book on the modern master Matisse and his marine subjects. Dive into this remarkable catalogue to discover the influence of the Mediterranean light on the birth of Fauvism and the seaweed-like forms of the artist’s late cutouts. A particular highlight is Matisse’s Bathers with a Turtle (1907–8)—acquired by the museum after its earlier confiscation by the Nazis as “degenerate art”—which exemplifies his recurring inspiration from Paul Cézanne’s famed nude bathers.

   

All photos by Joseph Coscia Jr., The Frick Collection