While 2025 might be drawing to a close, the art books we read this year will stay with us for a long time to come. And not just the monographs or catalogs you might be thinking of — we also consumed biographies, academic titles, memoirs, zine re-issues, art novels, and more. My personal favorite was Imani Perry's Black in Blues; it doesn't necessarily fit the mold of an "art book," per se, and that's precisely what makes it such a rich addition to any artist or art-lover's shelves. Editor-in-Chief Hakim Bishara recommends Hew Locke's latest catalog, while Editor-at-Large Hrag Vartanian offers us a spate of books, including Tamara Lanier's moving account of her fight to reclaim the daguerreotypes of her enslaved ancestors, Renty and Delia. We've also got new categories this year to help guide your browsing. Enjoy, and, as ever, let us know what art books made it onto your list! —Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor
Hew Locke: Passages, edited by Martina Droth and Allie Biswas | Yale Center for British Art, September 2025
Some histories are best learned through an artist’s imagination. With true liberation still far off for billions on this earth, dismantling empire means also intervening in the objects and symbols that entrench its legacies. This, in a nutshell, is the work of Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke, whose practice is a masterclass in artistic truth-seeking. This valuable book pays dues to his illustrious, ever-growing repertoire. —Hakim Bishara