From timeless classics to contemporary gems, these art coffee table books are essential additions to any art lover’s home.
Art coffee table books are more than just decorative pieces; they are windows into the world of creativity, culture, and history. These oversized volumes, filled with stunning visuals and insightful commentary, have the power to transform any living space while offering an immersive experience into the minds of artists, photographers, and designers.
Whether you’re an art connoisseur, a casual admirer, or someone looking to add a touch of sophistication to your home, we’ve curated a collection of the best art coffee table books, each one a masterpiece in its own right!
One of the most renowned and exciting voices in fashion, this coffee table book is the perfect addition for any couturier collector. Alexander McQueen by Claire Wilcox brings to life the creative works, themes and references that shaped this visionary designer. Readers can enjoy an encyclopedic survey of McQueen’s catwalk collections, illustrated with striking images by leading fashion photographers, and specially commissioned photographs that capture the breath-taking skill of his designs and theatricality of his shows.
Image via Angus and Robertson website.Alexander McQueen by Claire Wilcox
For more than 50 years, Annie Leibovitz has been one of the most celebrated photographers defining culture with portraits of politicians, performers, athletes, businesspeople, and royalty. This gallery has now been collated and catalogued with the release of Annie Leibovitz: The Early Years, 1970-1983. This photography book celebrates Leibovitz’s career by taking you her development as a young artist, along the way providing snapshots of the Vietnam War protests, Apollo 17 launch, and even Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974. An essential read for anyone needing a sensational photography coffee table book!
Image via Angus and Robertson website.Annie Leibovitz. The Early Years. 1970-1983
What’s better than one artist? How about two! Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol are a dynamic pair in this brilliant art coffee table book. Featuring more than 100 jointly signed and individual paintings, Basquiat X Warhol recreates the New York downtown art scene of the 1980s that is simply electrifying and at times terrifying. Each titan of the art world plays off each other in delving into the issues at the hot button issues of the time for a book that will become the centrepiece of any coffee table!
Image via Angus and Robertson website.Basquiat X Warhol by Edition Gallimard
Salvador Dali is a standout in the world or art, and nowhere is this manic creativity on greater display than in Dali: Les Diners de Gala. Part surrealist art book part recipe catalogue, this concoction gives modern readers a look into the extravagant dinner parties thrown by Salvador Dali and his wife Gala. Featuring over 13o recipes that belong in a Dali painting, each comes with a stunning artwork and illustration by the artist himself, giving you a one-of-a-kind art book that even your dream can’t make up!
Image via Angus and Robertson website.Dali: Les Diners de Gala by Salvador Dali
Many artists draw inspiration from the city they call home, and nowhere is this better seen than Edward Hopper’s New York. The creative mind behind Nighthawks, this book gives readers a comprehensive look at the architecture and unique flavour of New York and, of course, the sensations that helped define Hopper’s unique style. This book features more than 300 paintings, drawings, prints, and never-before-published archival materials to show a whole new light to the American painters’ experience in the Big Apple.
Image via Angus and Robertson website.Edward Hopper's New York by Kim Conaty
Widely regarded as one of the founders of impressionism, Claude Monet can give your coffee table an extra flair with this pristine hardcover. Simply titled Monet, this collection provides an essential introduction to an artist whose works simultaneously reflected upon the purpose of a picture and the passage of time, and in so doing transformed irrevocably the story of art. Featuring dozens of high-quality prints of his artworks, including his beloved water lily series, feel enchanted with this brilliant art coffee table book!
Image via Angus and Robertson website.Monet by Christopher Heinrich
Tokyo today is one of the world’s mega-cities, but it wasn’t always that way. Travel back in time with Tokyo Before Tokyo, a history coffee table book that features stunning artwork that details the early years of the city with a wellspring of diaries, guidebooks, maps, woodblock prints and paintings from the time. Across 272 pages readers will be able to see the transformation over several hundred years with richly illustrated imagery.
Image via Angus and Robertson website.Tokyo Before Tokyo by Timon Screech
Move from the coffee table to the real thing with a visit to The 8 Best Art Galleries around the World. And shop for these exquisite reads at the Best Bookshops around Australia.
