Five Art and Design Books for Your Winter Reading List

A celebration of Black artists, award-winning architecture, and sustainable décor.


Photo by Nina Gallant

Home for the Soul: Sustainable and Thoughtful Decorating and Design, by Sara Bird and Dan Duchars
Style and sustainability go hand-in-hand in this insightful book, which emphasizes eco-friendliness and elegance in equal measure. Whether rhapsodizing on repurposed textiles and linens, non-toxic paints, or vintage furnishings, authors Sara Bird and Dan Duchars make a great case for a more carefully considered, waste-free approach to life indoors.

Out 9/22/20, $50, Ryland Peters & Small.

Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists, edited by Antwaun Sargent
Devoted art patrons Bernard Lumpkin and Carmine Boccuzzi have spent years cultivating their personal collection, treating their Manhattan home like a gallery of rotating works by contemporary Black artists. Now, the married pair gives these important pieces a new platform in this D.A.P. text, which—in tandem with a traveling exhibition of the same name—features art from the likes of Yale grad Kevin Beasley and RISD-trained Julie Mehretu.

Out 9/29/20, $50, D.A.P.

Cy Twombly: Making Past Present, edited by Christine Kondoleon and Kate Nesin
Although he spent many of his adult years living and working in Rome, painter Cy Twombly first got his start in another great city: Boston, where he began attending the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 1948. Learn more about the abstractionist in this locally published text, where a selection of his works—including sculptures and drawings—are showcased alongside the classical masterpieces that inspired them.

Out 8/25/20, $65, MFA Publications.

Zaha Hadid: Complete Works 1979–Today, by Philip Jodidio
Architecture buffs, take note: This updated Taschen text covers the groundbreaking career of the late Zaha Hadid, the first female architect to win both the elusive Pritzker Prize and the RIBA Royal Gold Medal. Penned by Harvard alum Philip Jodidio, the monograph provides an inspiring look at a designer whose futuristic creations (see: China’s Guangzhou Opera House) touch nearly every corner of the globe.

Out 8/15/20, $60, Taschen.

Sailing the Seas: A Voyager’s Guide to Oceanic Getaways, by Dayyan Armstrong and Ross Beane
Dreaming of adventures beyond your weekly jaunt to the grocery store? Safely indulge in a little wanderlust with Sailing the Seas. A beautiful illustration of life on the ocean, the tempting tome offers everything from photos of Côte d’Azur and the limestone cliffs of Thailand to tips about what to eat when you get there (someday).

Out 8/25/20, $60, Gestalten.