Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
15 December 2020 Vol 5 No 25 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2020
From the Editor
Portia Priegert
Each December for the last three years, Galleries West has published a special issue devoted entirely to art books.
This month, our fourth annual art books issue looks back at 2020, a tough year for the Canadian publishing industry, which is struggling, like so many other sectors, with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
Our art books issue has always been a way to promote some of the year's best reads, while also offering interesting gift ideas for the holidays. Readers seem to find it useful, sharing it widely, and consistently making it one of the most popular issues of the year.
It has been a joy over the last month to scour bookstores and online sites for new art books as we pulled together our lead feature – a roundup of Canadian art books published in 2020.
This year, our roundup includes a record nine titles previously reviewed in Galleries West – pandemic lockdowns have allowed us to dip more heavily into books than we would in a normal year. But it was a pleasant surprise to discover exciting new titles to share.
Our art books issue also includes five reviews of individual books. In September, as planning began, I invited arts writers across the country to select international books they would like to review. Usually, our focus is on Canadian books, but given the uncertainties at the time, it seemed wisest to broaden our reach.
Yellowknife-based writer Sarah Swan chose a new book by American critic Jerry Saltz, How to be an Artist. As she writes: "I’d read anything by Jerry Saltz, even a treatise on phone books or bowling balls."
Paul Gessell, a veteran arts journalist in Ottawa, opted for Young Rembrandt: A Biography, by Dutch writer Onno Blom. Paul has already indulged his fondness for Rembrandt this year by writing about Leiden circa 1630: Rembrandt Emerges, which toured to the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton.
Meanwhile, Agnieszka Matejko, who writes about art from Edmonton, chose The Obama Portraits, which tells the story behind the official portraits that she saw last January in Washington, D.C. She was surprised to learn that the portraits remain a popular site of secular pilgrimage several years after they were unveiled.
For his part, Vancouver writer John Thomson selected A Visual Protest: The Art of Banksy, which surveys much of the mysterious street artist's recent work. John found himself pondering the disconnect between Banksy's anti-capitalist stance and the jaw-dropping prices his art can fetch.
The final review was up to me. Expecting me to stand down for this issue is like asking me to say no a table piled high with holiday treats. Not. Going. To. Happen. Attracted by its eccentric concept and deft writing, I opted for Short Life in a Strange World: Birth to Death in 42 Panels by British writer Toby Ferris. It's a fabulous account of the author's odyssey to see every work by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the master of the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance.
Looking ahead, our next issue will feature year-end pieces focused on recurring themes from 2020, including the pandemic's toll on public art galleries, the importance of regional art, and how the art world is responding to cross-cultural themes.
Until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Paul Gessell, Agnieszka Matejko, Sarah Swan, John Thomson
We acknowledge the support of the Government of Alberta Media Fund, the Government of Canada Special Measures for Journalism Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts.
