10 Art Books Every Man Should Own

Image via Complex Original

Books, no doubt, help make a home.

The titles on your shelves ably express prevailing interests and illustrate your depth as a man. Reading, of course, functions similarly.

With that in mind, this guide to art books shares titles that will enrich knowledge and understanding of key subjects and figures in the history of American art and design. Read them all, and very quickly become conversant in significant cultural points. Wow friends. Impress potential mates. And, most importantly, be equipped to steer small talk away from idle chat about the weather.

Did we mention these books will also make your shelves look cooler?

Check out the 10 Art Books Every Man Should Own.

50 Photo Icons

Author(s): Hans Michael Koetzel
Publisher: Taschen
Date: 2001

Buy it here for $29.99

In art, context is important. Without the back-story and artist's history, it is difficult to assess the reasoning behind a given work and its cultural impact. Photo Icons takes this premise and fleshes out the key details of some of the most memorable images in the history of photography. The benefit of the book is that you will quickly become conversant in world history and the growth of photography as an artistic medium.

DPM: Disruptive Pattern Material

Author(s): Hardy Blechman and Alex Newman
Publisher: Francis Lincoln
Date: 2004

Buy it here for $130.00

Men should know about camouflage. After all, patterned material is trending in dress and universal in cool. Beyond, the history of disruptive pattern offers a fascinating trip from early nature painters to cubism to contemporary design. If you are into military history and art and design, and have a secret thing for BAPE, this book will satisfy all interests.

Check out the Complex Guide To Camo for a full preview.

KAWS

Author(s): Monica Ramirez-Montagut
Publisher: Skira/Rizzoli
Date: 2010

Buy it here for $28.00

Published in conjunction with KAWS' first museum retrospective at the Aldrich Contemporary, this book neatly covers the New Jersey-born artist's career output. While it is awesome simply as a monograph, the reason to add KAWS to your collection is to have a full overview of the hold street art has had on contemporary culture over the last decade. Flip through album covers, magazine editorials, sneakers, toys… you name it, its there. And in the end, your smarter for it.

1000 Chairs

Author(s): Charlotte Fiell, Peter Piell, Simone Phillippi
Publisher: Taschen
Date: 2000 (originally)

Buy it here for $8.95 

Covering 200 years of furniture history, 1000 Chairs introduces countless styles and over 400 designers. In short, it is a proper armchair (excuse the pun) history of decorative arts and interior trends. You won't learn everything, but you'll be well prepared to chat design with almost anyone.

American Vernacular: New Discoveries in Folk, Self-Taught, and Outsider Sculptures

Author(s): Franck Maresca, Roger Ricco, and Margit Rowell
Publisher: Bulfinch
Date: 2002

Buy here for $14.00

At time of publication, American Vernacular was a unprecedented study of folk art full of unpublished material. Think of it as a sort of underground art history —all the cool stuff that was created outside the Ivory Towers of the Academy— and as such a vibrant tale of the things that made America tick.

Subway Art: 25th Anniversary Edition

Author(s): Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Date: 2009

Buy it here for $12.94 

Unquestionably, Subway Art is the original graffiti bible. The photographs compiled by Cooper and Chalfant in the 1970s and early-80s inspired generations of writers the world over. The 25th Anniversary offers an expanded version of the '84 classic.

American Visions: The Epic History Of Art In America

Author: Robert Hughes
Publisher: Knopf
Date: 1997

Buy it here for $10.00

So what if Robert Hughes is Australian. Sometimes it takes a foreign eye to distill important information. With wit, and an eye for inclusion, Hughes' "epic" 648-page tome offers a complete enough history of American art and its cultural context to successfully introduce all readers to key themes. In short, spend a weekend with this and you'll be ready to wow your potential future in-laws.

Touch and Go: The Complete Hardcore Punk 'Zine, '97-'83

Author(s): Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson
Publisher: Bazillion Points
Date: 2010

Buy it here for $24.00

With forewords by Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye, the complete run of Touch And Go is contained in this handsome volume. Midwestern in origin, Michigan to be exact, the sine was originally published in tiny numbers and distributed to punk communities all over the world. Why are we considering this an art book? Simple. Touch And Go reveals the prevailing aesthetic of the DIY punk community.

The American House

Author(s): Phaidon Editors
Publisher: Phaidon
Date: 2008

Buy it here for $14.99

Everyone likes to look at photos of cool houses. The American House succeeds in revealing a whole slew of homes, from the tipi to the Victorian mansion, and sharing a full history of American architecture. The book is a simple read of rich reward.

Less And More: The Design Ethos Of Dieter Rams

Author(s): Klaus Klemp and Keiko Ueki-Polet
Publisher: Gestalten
Date: 2011

Buy it here for $50.00

Dieter Rams is one of the most important and influential designers of the 20th-century. His work for Braun, where he spent four decades, helped define our current understanding of what design is and what it does for our lives. He created 10 rules of design, which some treat like commandments, and brought notions of function to new highest. To know Rams is to know modern design… and as such, Less And More is one of the books you should own.