Karnak Cafe

 By Naguib Mahfouz

This little novella looks at the life in Egypt in the mid 1960s, the time when secret police started to crack down on civil rights with the excuse of national emergency. The story is told by a narrator who frequents a quaint cafe in Cairo, where two groups of locals, older and younger, attend regularly. During that time, members of the young group disappear and come back changed, one of them never comes back. The author later discusses his interactions with different members of the group, and thus we learn about the horrors of the secret police/deep state that occupied Egypt at the time. Considering I grew up in a neighboring country, I am amazed how little I know about it and its history. This book is a good start to learning more. [110 pp.]

Link to book 

Wyeth: Christina's World

By Laura Hoptman

One of the MoMA series on single paintings in their collections, this tells the story of the Wyeth's famous painting in the context of his work, his influences, life, pinions, and his contemporaries' work. [Non fiction, 48 pp.]

Link to book

Creative Authenticity

16 Principles to Clarify and Deepen Your Artistic Vision

By Ian Roberts

I have read this book before, very quickly, the day before I submitted my MFA applications. It was so helpful in clarifying how I saw my art and felt about the process of making art. At the time I was very confused, having taken in all sorts of opinions and advice from others who've applied to MFA programs. This little book made me feel better about where I was at the time, and realize that this process of applying to these programs, even if I didn't get accepted, was still valuable to my understanding of myself and where I wanted to go. Roberts has a way to calm you down while immersing yourself in deep thoughts.

Reading it again, less stressfully, with taking time to look at the works of some of the painters mentioned, was really nice. There are a couple of quotes he cites that I really liked, and would like to save them here:

Whistler's definition of Talent: "The ability to do hard work in a consistently constructive direction over a long period of time."

"To see is to forget the name of the thing one sees," Paul Valéry, French poet

 Link to book

 

 

Esmond and Ilia

An Unreliable Memoir

By Marina Warner

A beautifully-written collection of memories and research-based understandings that tell the story of the author's parents. They met in Italy, where her mother was born, and where her father served during WWII. They lived in England, Egypt, and other countries in between, but the story mostly focuses on the early years of their marriage and the authors early childhood, the latter was mostly in Egypt. It uses little objects from the time that bring up memories, words that describe relevant objects but also serve as allegories to states of mind, personal changes, and more. [non-fiction, 417pp.]

Link to book

Artemisia Gentileschi

 By Sheila Barker

This book provided so much insight into the life of this 17th century artist, I was simply blown away. Some of the things I learned about her that I really liked are:

• Her beautiful relationships with her in-laws: Father-in-law, who was a tailor and had connections with fabric sellers, and who made Artemisia beautiful dresses she could wear and paint as she marketed herself as an accomplished painter; sister-in-law, who seems to have been a good friend, a model, and who was later supported by Artemisia
• Her business savvy was equivalent to her painting skills -- she developed her poetic and writing skills (even though her early education outside of painting was severely lacking) as she mingled with accomplished writers and scientists, such as Michelangelo's great nephew of the same name and Galileo Galilei. This was essential for her to acquire patrons such as the Medici's, and Spanish and English royals
• She used her painting skills to make political commentary, even when it was controversial, and potentially dangerous
• She prided herself of painting 'beauty of all kinds', painting bodies differently, depending on each person's imperfections, this was particularly true as she aged
  
• Also, as she ages, she depicted more common people whom she elevated to almost divinity

In short, this book provides a lot of information even while being image-rich. Definitely seems like a lot of deep research went into it. [non-fiction, 144pp.]

Link to book

The Art of Beatrix Potter

Sketches, Paintings, and Illustrations

By Emily Zach

Such a beautiful and inspiring book, full of the artist's works, along with some photos and texts that shed light on her life. It was nice to remember some of the information mentioned here from the Linda Lear's Potter biography, and even nicer to get further insight into each illustration or piece art provided. [non-fiction, 255pp.]

Link to book