Articles
Books
Opinion
2 months ago
Eight mind-blowing graphic novels for beginners
As Observer journalist and critic Rachel Cooke champions the art of the graphic novel at the RA’s Festival of Ideas, she tells us why we’re in a golden age for the comic – and offers up eight greats to get you started.
RA Recommends
1 year ago
Four art biographies to read this autumn
Art critic Michael Prodger recommends the best new biographies of artists and art lovers – from Renoir to Peggy Guggenheim.
RA Recommends
> 1 year ago
The best art books for foodies
Rebecca Salter RA brings her artist’s palate to matters of taste, in a delicious round-up of the best books on art and food.
RA Recommends
< 2 years ago
The best art books for kids
Eight gift ideas to awaken the imagination and dazzle the senses… Bob and Roberta Smith RA chooses the best children’s books about art and design.
RA Recommends
> 2 years ago
The best new art books for summer
Michael Prodger heads for the beach with his pick of the best holiday reads on artists – in fact and fiction.
Our Collection
< 3 years ago
Object of the month: December 2015
By 1880 there was huge competition amongst publishers to employ the best writers, illustrators and designers for books published in the run up to the Christmas holiday.
Opinion
< 3 years ago
Art books to give this Christmas
Make it a cultural festive season with the best art books for friends and family.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
Extract: The White Road by Edmund de Waal
His last bestseller, The Hare with Amber Eyes, traced his family history through the journey of a small Japanese carving. Now, in a new book coinciding with a display at the RA, Edmund de Waal turns to the history of porcelain.
Opinion
3 years ago
More than meets the eye: Julian Barnes on art
In his new book of essays, Julian Barnes offers insightful lessons in how to look at – and read about – art.
Artists
> 3 years ago
Michael Craig-Martin, man for all seasons
As Michael Craig-Martin RA co-ordinates this year’s Summer Exhibition, the Curator and Head of the RA Schools Eliza Bonham Carter discovers in a new book what makes this leading artist and teacher tick.
Artists
> 3 years ago
Michael Craig-Martin RA: advice for an aspiring artist
In an extract from his new book, the Royal Academician who nurtured talents including Gary Hume, Sarah Lucas and Damien Hirst offers his insights into how to get on in art and the art world.
Opinion
> 3 years ago
Podcast: David Crystal on his new book ‘Words in Time and Place’
How would Rubens have described the weather? Is the language of Downton Abbey accurate?
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Podcast: short stories with Sebastian Faulks
Award-winning and best-selling novelist Sebastian Faulks CBE reads a short story selected in response to our ‘Rubens and His Legacy’ exhibition.
Opinion
< 4 years ago
Two books on the modern art of Paris
A family memoir involving art dealers, Nazis and looted treasure is compared to a collection of 10 essays from the 1970s and ’80s reiussed in elegant format.
Artists
< 4 years ago
‘In Tangier’: an extract from Tess Jaray’s new book
This short memoir is taken from painter Tess Jaray RA’s new book, ‘The Blue Cupboard: Inspirations and Recollections’.
Artists
4 years ago
An extract from the memoir of Philip Dowson PRA
A few years ago, Philip Dowson wrote and published a book of his memoirs, which he distributed only to his close family and friends. We have been given permission to republish an extract.
Opinion
4 years ago
Our pick of art books for Christmas
Your essential festive gift guide.
Inside the Academy
4 years ago
Short stories with Graham Swift
The Booker Prize-winning author of ‘Waterland’ and ‘Last Orders’ reads from his latest collection ‘England and Other Stories’. In partnership with Pin Drop.
Inside the Academy
4 years ago
Short stories with Lionel Shriver
Orange Prize-winning novelist Lionel Shriver treats us to a short story reading.
Artists
4 years ago
Tess Jaray RA reads from ‘The Blue Cupboard’
The Royal Academician shares a chapter from her new memoir.
Inside the Academy
4 years ago
Short stories with Tim Winton
Internationally esteemed novelist Tim Winton reads from his collection of short stories ‘The Turning’.
Artists
4 years ago
Black artists in British art
An insight into Eddie Chambers’s ‘Black Artists in British Art: A History from 1950 to the Present’, the first comprehensive study on the topic.
Opinion
4 years ago
New books bring artists and writers together
A quick look at some of the new titles which draw on the connection between art and the written word.
Artists
> 4 years ago
Michael Sandle RA on William Dalrymple’s book ‘Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan’
The Academician and sculptor finds history repeating itself on reading an illuminating analysis of Britain’s first Afghan war.
Opinion
> 4 years ago
A betrayal of trust? The Warburg Library under threat
One of the the world’s foremost academic resources, London’s Warburg Institute Library, is under threat, 80 years after being saved from the Nazis. Martin Kemp argues vehemently for its survival.
Opinion
> 4 years ago
In the Company of the Courtesan
Beth Schneider, Head of Learning, delves between the pages of ‘In the Company of the Courtesan’ by Sarah Dunant, our RA Book Club novel of the month.
Artists
> 4 years ago
An extract from ‘Matisse: The Chapel at Vence’
Read an extract from RA Publications’ new book on the chapel that Henri Matisse considered his greatest work.
Opinion
> 6 years ago
Review & Comment: Books: ‘Turner’s Secret Sketches’ by Ian Warrell
Did Ruskin burn Turner’s clandestine drawings? Simon Wilson acclaims a revelatory new book on the works that seared the great critic’s soul.