The Plague by Albert Camus, translated from the French by Stuart Gilbert, Vintage International, Vintage Books, a Division of Random House, New York, 1991.  

It is the 1940s. The plague enters a northern Gillian city and how do people respond. A timely story of human resilience. The novel is narrated by…?  You won’t know until the end.

Murals of New York City: The Best of New York’s Public Paintings from Bemelmans to Parrish by Glenn Palmer – Smith; Photographs by Joshua McHugh, Rizzoli International Publications, 2013.  

Beautifully photographed mural paintings from throughout NYC bars and restaurants to Rockefeller Center, hotels and public civic buildings. A wonderful itinerary for your next trip to New York.

Diaghliev’s Empire – How the Ballets Russes Enthralled the World by Rupert Christiansen, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2022.

Serge Diaghilev, the Russian impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, is often said to have invented modern ballet. An art critic and connoisseur, Diaghilev had no training in dance or choreography, but he had  a mission to drive a cultural and artistic revolution. Rupert Christiansen, a renowned dance critic and arts correspondent, presents a sweeping history of the Ballets Russes and of Serge Diaghilev’s dream of bringing Russian art and culture to the West.

Boston’s Apollo: Thomas McKellar and john Singer Sargent Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum, Boston, 2020, Exhibition Catalogue. 

This is the exhibition catelogue which deals with the ex-pat Bostonian portrait and mural painter, John Singer Sargent and one of his males models, African American, Thomas McKellar.  Essays address the erasure of the black model for white gods and goddesses, racism, Sargent’s private life, academic art, African-American life in the early 20th century. Who was Thomas McKellar?  

Brian Rutenberg – A Little Long Time by Brian Rutenberg, Forum Gallery, New York, 2020.

This is more than a book of Rutenberg’s wonderfully bold colourful landscapes. A text by the artist allows you into his life and world of painting.  I found many insights having spiritual depth. You replace the word artist with pray-er, art with prayer and you have it. If you are into bold abstract paintings. Check out Brian’s work at the Forum Gallery website.