Reading the Art World

For the 47th episode of Reading the Art World , host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Ruth Bernard Yeazell, Sterling Professor of English at Yale University, about "Vermeer's Afterlives," published by Princeton University Press. Vermeer's Afterlives traces how Vermeer, who died in 1675 and was largely forgotten within decades, was reconstructed by the critics, forgers, poets, and no...

For the 46th episode of Reading the Art World, host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Georgina Adam, editor-at-large of The Art Newspaper, about her new book NextGen Collectors and the Art Market, published by Lund Humphries in association with Sotheby's Institute of Art. Adam argues that the generational shift now underway is different from those that came before it—not just in scale, but in kind....

For the 45th episode of Reading the Art World, host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with William E. Wallace, an internationally recognized authority on Michelangelo, about his new book “Michelangelo and Titian: A Tale of Rivalry and Genius,” published by Princeton University Press. The book makes a case scholars have long resisted: that the forty-year rivalry between Michelangelo and Titian was genuinely r...

For the 44th episode of Reading the Art World, host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with András Szántó—cultural strategist, writer, and longtime observer of museums and markets—about his new book, "The Future of the Art World: 38 Dialogues," published by Hatje Cantz. The book brings together 38 conversations with artists, curators, sociologists, philosophers, collectors, gallerists, and instituti...

For the 43rd episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Francine Snyder, Director of Archives at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, about her recently published book "I Don't Think About Being Great: Select Writings by Robert Rauschenberg," co-published by the foundation and Yale University Press. Their conversation reveals a side of Rauschenberg...

For the 42nd episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Dr. Matthew Affron, Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art at the Philadelphia Art Museum, about his book "Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100," published by the museum and distributed by Yale University Press. Their conversation traces Surrealism from its 1924 origins in André Breton's man...

Join art advisor Megan Fox Kelly for a special holiday episode featuring her annual selection of art books worth giving—and keeping for yourself. This year's list includes revelatory biographies, major exhibition catalogues, and essential critical writing. From Barnett Newman's political and intellectual life before he became a painter, to Monet's restless vision traced through newl...

In the 40th episode of our "Reading the Art World" podcast, Megan Fox Kelly speaks with the Guggenheim's Megan Fontanella, Curator of Modern Art and Provenance, about her beautifully researched book "Gabriele Münter: Contours of a World," published by Guggenheim Museum Publications, distributed by Artbook DAP. Our conversation reveals the life and art of Gabriele Münter, a...

For the 39th episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Susan Davidson, curator and art historian, about her landmark book "Tom Wesselmann: The Great American Nude," published by Gagosian and Almine Rech, in collaboration with the Estate of Tom Wesselmann. Distributed by Rizzoli International Publications, New York. This conversation reveals the unexpe...

Summer invites a different kind of attention — the kind that lets you sit with something longer, look more closely, and linger on a page. In this special episode of Reading the Art World, art advisor Megan Fox Kelly shares seven books that offer exactly that opportunity. From the extraordinary untold story of Rose Valland’s resistance during WWII to the vivid experimentation of David Hockney, thes...

For the 37th episode of “Reading the Art World,” host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Ian Wardropper, author and former director of The Frick Collection, about his illuminating new book “The Fricks Collect: An American Family and the Evolution of Taste in the Gilded Age,” published by The Frick Collection in association with Rizzoli Electa. Wardropper shares the fascinating story of Henry Clay Frick&a...

For the 36th episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Sarah Roberts, curator of the landmark exhibition "Amy Sherald: American Sublime," and editor of the accompanying catalog published by Yale University Press in association with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Roberts discusses Sherald's revolutionary portraiture approach — from her di...

For the 35th episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with influential art dealer Michael Findlay about his captivating memoir, "Portrait of the Art Dealer as a Young Man," published by Prestel. This vibrant conversation takes listeners back to New York's electric downtown art scene of the 1960s and 70s, where Findlay directed one of SoHo's firs...

For the 34th episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Sebastian Smee, Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic for The Washington Post and author of "Paris in Ruins: Love, War, and the Birth of Impressionism,” published by W. W. Norton. This fascinating conversation explores the violent political upheavals of 1870-71 Paris — the Siege of Paris and the Paris Comm...

Join art advisor Megan Fox Kelly for a special holiday podcast episode. The holiday season, with its whirlwind of glittering lights and celebratory clamor, also offers moments of quiet reflection—a perfect time for gifting books that open doors to new worlds. For art lovers, history buffs, and anyone captivated by beauty, these books are more than just pages—they are journeys. Whether it's an...

For the 32nd episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Mary Morton, Curator and Head of the Department of French Paintings, and Kimberly Jones, Curator of 19th Century French Paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Together, they discuss their work on the landmark exhibition, “Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment,” and the accompanying exhi...

For the 31st episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Diana Seave Greenwald, curator of the exhibition “Manet: A Model Family” at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and editor of the associated catalogue, published by Princeton University Press. The exhibition and book offer a fascinating look at the personal life and family relationships that shaped one of a...

For the 30th episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Gary Garrels, curator of the exhibition “Willem de Kooning and Italy” and editor of the associated catalogue, published by Marsilio Arte and distributed internationally by Artbook D.A.P.. In the interview, Gary provides insight into Willem de Kooning’s engagement with Italy in the 1950s and early 1960s, sha...

For the 29th episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Richard Shiff, art historian and author of “Writing after Art,” published by David Zwirner Books. Richard shares how he comes to understand an artist's work in a way that will inspire us to observe and understand artists and their processes more fully. “Writing after Art” is an expansive anthology of R...

Join art advisor Megan Fox Kelly for a special podcast episode in which she shares three titles from her must-read list of recent art books and provides insights into how these fascinating publications inspire our experience of art. To hear interviews with top authors of other great new art books, don’t miss an episode of “Reading the Art World” . SHOW NOTES Episode Timestamps: 00:26 - My Must-Rea...

For the 27th episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Eva Respini, author of “Simone Leigh,” published by DelMonico Books in association with the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. Eva Respini’s book offers a deep dive into the groundbreaking work of contemporary artist Simone Leigh, whose multidimensional artistry challenges conventions, and sparks meaning...

For the 26th episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Martin Gayford, author of “Venice: City of Pictures,” published by Thames & Hudson in November of 2023. Their conversation shines a special spotlight on the magical, cultural city in advance of the Venice Biennale, opening April 20, 2024. Martin Gayford’s book brings the richness and complexity of Venic...

For the 25th episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Leslie Ramos, author of “Philanthropy in the Arts: A Game of Give and Take,” published by Lund Humphries in October 2023. This book is a guidepost for cultural institutions, philanthropists, artists, galleries, and even financial advisors and public policy advisors on the importance of supporting the arts a...

For the 24th episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Natasha Degen, author of "Merchants of Style: Art and Fashion After Warhol," which was published by Reaktion Books in London just last year. "Merchants of Style" explores the accelerating convergence of art and fashion, looking at the interplay of artists and designers – and the role of...

For the 23rd episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Joanna Moorhead, the author of "Surreal Spaces: The Life and Art of Leonora Carrington," published by Princeton University Press. "Surreal Spaces" tells the dramatic story of an artist who lived life on her own terms in a way that was radically modern for the 1930s, 1940s and later, and...