Claire Mather and Janet Fabio
Art is a world of paintings, sculpture, Egyptian tomb decorations, cave art, photographs and much more. Your SaddleBrooke libraries offer a wealth of resources about art and artists. Or you can delve into the art world through fiction and movies. Let’s start with some non-fiction works that highlight the breadth of what art encompasses.
Legendary works of art pair up with iconic athletic feats and poses in Art But Make It Sports. This unique book, at DesertView Library, will interest artists, photographers, and sports fans.
Going back in time, explore major Renaissance figures. Check out Walter Isaacson’s insightful biography of creative genius Leonardo da Vinci, also available as an audiobook on CD. The Medici: Power, Money and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance is a comprehensive history by Paul Stathern. For a different historical period pick up Cashing out: the Flight of Nazi Treasure, 1945-1948 by Neill Lochery who recounts the history of Nazi-looted art, gems, and gold, and the Allied quest for justice.
Go behind the scenes of a major art institution in All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley, a guard who has a unique viewpoint at that museum. The Man Who Stole the Gods is a compelling story of the looting of Cambodian artifacts, and the dogged efforts of a few dedicated individuals who identified the people responsible and worked to repatriate the stolen goods.
For an inventive approach to art and literature, read Alive in Shape and Color: 17 Paintings by Great Artists and the Stories They Inspired. These short stories include Michael Connelly’s take on The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymous Bosch, and Jeffrey Deaver’s story based on the cave paintings of Lascaux.
Art can also inspire a thriller, such as The Picasso Heist by James Patterson and Howard Roughan. The novel Mona’s Eyes, originally written in French, was an international bestseller. In one year, Mona and her grandfather visit 52 great works of art.
Novels by B.A. Shapiro won’t disappoint. The Art Forger is about the heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Also look for The Muralist and The Collector’s Apprentice.
Art includes the creation of Tiffany lamps. Learn more about this art form in the novel Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland. Clara Driscol, the woman behind the design of many of the iconic leaded-glass lamps struggled for artistic recognition and choosing between the work of her hands or the personal world of her heart. Susan Vreeland’s Lisette’s List, is a story set in the south of Vichy France as German forces seeking artwork spread across Europe.
Great art stories also appear in movies. Check the DVD collection at DesertView Library for The Last Vermeer or Mr. Turner, about the eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner.
All these titles can be found in the library online catalog. Use the easy link on the library website: sblibraries.com. Or ask one of our friendly volunteers for assistance at either the DesertView Library or the SaddleBrooke One Library. None of these resources would be available without funding from the Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries. Learn more at sbfsl.org.