The spring of 2025 promises to be a remarkable season for art enthusiasts and bibliophiles alike, with five exceptional publications poised to reshape our understanding of both celebrated masters and overlooked pioneers in the art world, per theartnewspaper.com.
Here are the newspaper’s books editor picks of the highlights of the months ahead:
“Helen Chadwick: Life Pleasures, Laura Smith (ed),” Thames & Hudson, 272pp, 214 colour illustrations, £30 (hb), 15 May
Billed as the first critical biography of the influential artist and teacher, who mentored many of the Young British Artists, but whose own reputation declined after her sudden death in 1996. In collaboration with The Hepworth Wakefield.
“Victor Ehikhamenor,” Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie, Prestel, 208pp, 160 colour illustrations, £50 (hb), 8 April
A lavishly illustrated book exploring the full multi-disciplinary scope of the renowned Nigerian artist’s output (with a particular focus on recent work), which engages with African history and the post-colonial politics of Black identity.
“Art in a State of Siege,” Joseph Leo Koerner, Princeton University Press, 408pp, 32 colour and 103 b/w illustrations, $37 (hb), 4 February
Leo Koerner considers “What do artworks look like in extreme cases of collective experience?” by exploring the context around three works by Hieronymus Bosch, Max Beckmann and William Kentridge.
“Eufrasia Burlamacchi,” Loretta Vandi, Lund Humphries, 128pp, 80 colour illustrations, £35 (hb), 3 March
The latest volume in the Illuminating Women Artists series focuses on the illuminated manuscripts of Sister Eufrasia (1478-1548), arguing that her contact with the High Renaissance beyond the walls of her Tuscan convent is revealed through her work.
“Turner and Constable: Art, Life, Landscape,” Nicola Moorby, Yale, 352pp, 40 colour illustrations, £25 (hb), 11 March
A fresh perspective on the art, life and personalities of the celebrated “rival” landscape painters, published to coincide with the 250th anniversaries of JMW Turner’s (2025) and John Constable’s (2026) births.
