Five Art Books for Christmas Gifts: From Kandinsky to Erotic Art

A roundup of five art book recommendations for the 2017 holiday season, each offering a unique perspective on art history, theory, and practice. Michel Henry's "Vedere l'invisibile. Saggio su Kandinsky" returns to Italian bookstores, translated by Johan and Levi, originally published in France in 1988. Henry, a philosopher, argues that Kandinsky invented abstract painting and initiated modernity, while dismissing Picasso as academic. The book provides a sharp analysis of the Franco-Russian painter. Makoto Azuma and Shunsuke Shiinoki's "Florilegio. I fiori, il tempo, la vita" (L'ippocampo) documents their botanical art, from sculptures to a taxonomy of flowers, through photographs capturing life cycles across four seasons. Rowan Pelling's "The Art of the Erotic" (Phaidon) surveys erotic art from Greek pottery to Francis Bacon, including works by Botticelli, Bosch, Michelangelo, Raphael, Courbet, Guido Reni, Suzuki Harunobu, Tamara de Lempicka, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Luigi Spina's "Diario mitico. Cronache visive sulla Collezione Farnese" (5 Continents) presents black-and-white photographs of the Farnese Collection at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, with a preface by Philippe Davierio highlighting the challenge of photographing sculpture. Michel Lauricella's "Anatomia artistica. Carnet di morfologia" (L'ippocampo) is a portable guide to artistic anatomy, featuring bodies in various poses, suitable for beginners and experienced artists alike.