Robert Rauschenberg, Museum of Modern Art, 75 USD
If you're unable to get to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City to check out the Robert Rauschenberg retrospective in person, this handsome volume is certainly the next best thing. Offering both a complete overview and fresh perspective of the momentous artist, nearly everything that Rauschenberg tackled in his career is included here, including his printmaking, photography, and famous silkscreen paintings. His extraordinary artistic range will keep him in the forefront of modern art for years to come, and this book is a fitting artifact to document his legacy.
Mystical Landscapes: From Vincent van Gogh to Emily Carr, Prestel, 60 USD
Nothing rivals a serene, calming landscape, especially when it's the focus of a gorgeous work of art. (En plein air, anyone?) This volume effortlessly brings together a wide range of mystical landscapes created by well-known artists in Europe, Scandinavia, and North America from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, all of which-beyond lush trees and the swelling waterways-manage to shine through the spiritual crises and disillusionment of the modern age. There's much more depth to creating a landscape than you previously imagined.
Sante D'Orazio: Polaroids, Chronicle Books, 29.95 USD
American-born photographer Sante D'Orazio is one of the pioneering forces behind ‘90s glamour, whose images constantly exude an aura of sensuality and playfulness. This compact photo book vibrantly highlights D'Orazio's vision by featuring an array of personal Polaroids taken as casual warm-ups before official shoots. Everyone from Kate Moss to Angelina Jolie to Keith Richards has has been shot by D'Orazio, and while his subjects may come from different walks of life, the photographs of them are united by one element: pure sex appeal.
75 Years of Capitol Records, Taschen, 150 USD
Any devout music fan can tell you about the joys and importance of Capitol Records, one the world's most defining labels of the past century. An eclectic mix of every possible music genre has continuously thrived there—from Pink Floyd to Radiohead to Katy Perry—over the past 75 years. To celebrate that landmark achievement, this massive book presents the most thorough and official account of Capitol Records' evolution to date. Featuring hundreds of archival images and insightful essays, it may take you a full week to comb through it all.
Fernando Botero, Assouline, 845 USD
Fernando Botero, the renowned Columbian-born figurative artist who's continues to consistently churn out new work at the age of 84, is the sole subject of this massive monograph that traces the entire history of his creative output. Perhaps best known for his loud and exaggerated figures—both sculpted and painted—Botero is one of the most commercially successful contemporary artists of all time, and he himself helped curate this crème de la crème coffee table book. It's organized through his most significant works from each period of his oeuvre, in case you get lost in its never-ending pages.
Jean-Michel Basquiat: Words Are All We Have, Hatje Cantz, 60 USD
Jean-Michel Basquiat's ultimately death at the age of 27 is considered one of the greatest losses in contemporary art. An abundance of books have been published in recent years to honor his innovative contributions in neo-expressionist painting and street art, but this colorful volume hones in on Basquiat's treatment of language (coined "eye rap") in his late 1970s and 1980s works. If you thought his canvases were noteworthy, just wait until you read about the complexities behind his collage-like manifestations.
