2025 Art Book Reading Challenge!
The beginning of a new year often means resolutions and fresh starts, which are both good things. But for me, it also means diving into new reading challenges and deciding which tomes to insert into various categories, which is a great thing! In a few weeks, I’ll be sharing the books I read in 2024 as well as the challenges I’ll be participating in next year. However, before I get to the more general reading challenge world, based on a request I received from one of you recently, I thought I’d revisit an idea I had a few years ago and toss my own offering into the reading challenge world. In this post, I’m announcing the 2025 Art Book Reading Challenge and offering ideas for the various categories it will include!
Why participate in an art book reading challenge?
As I wrote back in 2022 when I posted the first art book reading challenge, one of the best ways I know of getting deeper into the art world is by reading a biography of an artist, or any kind of book that explores various aspects of art. From these books, I have learned so much about the people behind the art as well as specific movements, techniques, and the world as a whole at various times in history. Knowing more about the artists and events that have affected the art world gives the art more depth and has provided me with an appreciation for paintings or sculptures that I only gave a passing glance in the past.
If you’d like to join me in learning more about the world of art, you can find the six categories as well as a few suggestions for each category in the list below! (Those marked with a * are books I have not read, but they received positive reviews and would be what I would read for that artist.)
The 2025 Art Book Reading Challenge Categories
1 A book about an artist from the 19th century
The 1800s offered a wealth of art creation, so we will begin the list there! For my fellow AmblesideOnline users, I highly recommend diving into the world of Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), as he is the first artist scheduled for the 2025-2026 school year. I have been slowly working my way through this biography, which was just released in 2023 and has been very enlightening so far!
This category would encompass books about an artist who was active during the 19th century. It could include biographies, autobiographies, collections of letters or journals, or anything that gives you a better idea of who that artist was beyond their work. They may have been born in the 18th century, but as long as they were active during the 20th century, they would fall into this category. This would include artists such as:
I also have a list of more 19th-century artists here!
2 A book about a landscape artist
The same rules as the first category apply to this one as well. A few suggestions:
3 An art fiction book
A “fun” category! Fictional accounts most likely take a lot of artistic license (no pun intended), but I have been surprised at how much research some authors have done to instill quite a bit of truth in their tales. Goodreads has suggestions here. (I do not recommend anything by Dan Brown).
4 A book about an art controversy (e.g., art theft, forgery, repatriation, etc.).
Another “fun” one! This can encompass a lot of different things, including:
5 A book about an artist from the 18th century
Another time period-based category. This one includes some well-known names as well:
I also have a list of more 18th-century artists here!
6 A book about an artist from or the art of your state/region/country
Getting to know more about your local artists is not only a good way to better appreciate their art but also the locations around you. This category can include books about where you currently live or where you grew up, and you can read biographies or texts on the art that has been made in your location over the years. A good place to start is a local art or history museum’s gift shop, as they sometimes feature local artists’ art.
I am limiting it to six categories to make it more attainable to complete the challenge, as some of these books can be quite long and heady. If you’d like to join the challenge, let me know what you plan to read in the comments below!
This is so fun! I couldn’t find the link to the Camille Pissarro biography. I would love to read that one to prep for next school year.
Sorry, Kelsey! I forgot to add the link! It’s there now. 🙂 Thanks for letting me know!
I love this idea- I’m in!
Yay! I’m glad you’ll be joining me! 🙂
I was planning to do Schole’s 5×5 reading challenge (pick 5 books for 5 categories to add breadth and depth to your reading). I don’t read many art books so I think I might pick a book each from 5 of these categories to be one row of my 5×5!
Oh, I love that, Megan! Great idea!
Oh no, not another reading challenge that I want to participate in! One of my Scholé 5×5 categories is actually art this year, but the books I’ve chosen are more art intersecting with worldview. I could definitely use your suggestions for another, more artist-focused category. I decided to do an art category after reading aloud The Restorationists by Carolyn Leiloglou, a middle-grade book series. Both my daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed the books, and I suspect you would too.
Do you think you’d do this every year?
One of the other commenters (Megan) mentioned combining it with the Scholé challenge as well! I can certainly try to do it every year. 🙂 I will aim for that!
This post just made me so happy! I was just thinking that I should broaden my reading, but wasn’t sure how I should go about it. Your recommendations are so helpful. Thanks!
I’m glad they’re helpful!
I would love to join! And in perusing the art fiction list, Dorothy Sayers book “The Five Red Herrings” proclaimed itself my pick.
Oh, I’ll have to check that one out!