72 books like An American Vision

By James H. Duff, Andrew Wyeth, Thomas Hoving , Lincoln Kirstein

Here are 72 books that An American Vision fans have personally recommended if you like An American Vision. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Book cover of Walter Langley: Pioneer of the Newlyn Art Colony

David Poxon Author Of Watercolour, Heart & Soul

From my list on art influences.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a 5-year-old boy, I was given a tin of watercolour paints by my Grandmother. I had no idea how to use them, and there was no one around to teach me. I had to find my own way. Around the same time I was taken on a day trip to London, where we visited the Tate Gallery. It was there that I was confronted for the first time by the magnificent paintings of J.M.W.Turner. My love for art was ignited. I became a serious student of art, and although I have had to make a living in the world like everyone else, art became my go-to therapy for relief and recreation.

David's book list on art influences

David Poxon Why did David love this book?

Walter Langley was a 19th C English artist who specialized in watercolor paintings. His journey began in the Industrial city of Birmingham UK where he developed great skill and mastery of watercolor. His career took off when he moved to the Cornwall fishing village of Newlyn. There he found the subjects and characters that would feature in his work and with which he would make his name. He was elected to the prestigious RI in London. 

This book is a biographical in-depth study of his life and work featuring numerous full-color plates. The incredible skill sets in the paintings he made show that watercolor as a medium, used with passion and care, deserves total respect. In the hands of a true master any subject can be rendered in a convincing and moving manner.

By Roger Langley,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Walter Langley as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

PIONEER OF THE NEWLYN ART COLONY; 1852-1922;... 191 PAGES WITH INDEX. COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS,' A FULL CHRONOLOGY OF HIS WORK....48 REPRODUCTIONS IN COLOR AND 128 BLACK IN WHITE


Book cover of Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates

David Poxon Author Of Watercolour, Heart & Soul

From my list on art influences.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a 5-year-old boy, I was given a tin of watercolour paints by my Grandmother. I had no idea how to use them, and there was no one around to teach me. I had to find my own way. Around the same time I was taken on a day trip to London, where we visited the Tate Gallery. It was there that I was confronted for the first time by the magnificent paintings of J.M.W.Turner. My love for art was ignited. I became a serious student of art, and although I have had to make a living in the world like everyone else, art became my go-to therapy for relief and recreation.

David's book list on art influences

David Poxon Why did David love this book?

On a day trip to Cambridge UK I was in an old book store. I could not believe my good fortune when I spotted an old-worn book entitled Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates. I realised immediately that Pyle was the art teacher of N.C.Wyeth, the styles of the 2 are interchangeable. This book contains numerous Pirate stories, which Pyle wrote himself. Obviously the text is now very antiquated, but there are numerous illustrations illustrating Pirate battles and adventure. Pyle wrote and taught art in the late 19th Century. Any student of the Wyeth’s should check him out.

By Howard Pyle,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Pirates, Buccaneers, Marooners, those cruel but picturesque sea wolves who once infested the Spanish Main, all live in present-day conceptions in great degree as drawn by the pen and pencil of Howard Pyle….It is improbable that anyone else will ever bring his combination of interest and talent to the depiction of these old-time Pirates, any more than there could be a second Remington to paint the now extinct Indians and gun-fighters of the Great West.


Book cover of Rowland Hilder Country: An Artist's Memoir

David Poxon Author Of Watercolour, Heart & Soul

From my list on art influences.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a 5-year-old boy, I was given a tin of watercolour paints by my Grandmother. I had no idea how to use them, and there was no one around to teach me. I had to find my own way. Around the same time I was taken on a day trip to London, where we visited the Tate Gallery. It was there that I was confronted for the first time by the magnificent paintings of J.M.W.Turner. My love for art was ignited. I became a serious student of art, and although I have had to make a living in the world like everyone else, art became my go-to therapy for relief and recreation.

David's book list on art influences

David Poxon Why did David love this book?

Rowland Hilder was born in the USA but migrated to the UK as a young boy. He made his name as a brilliant watercolor artist. What set Hilder apart from other practitioners was his love of the English Landscape in winter. This treatment endeared him to the thousands of Hilder followers. This was a new genre at the time (mid 20th century). The book is semi-autobiographical in addition to the numerous full-colour palates. It tells of his early childhood and moving to the rural countryside of Kent in England. As a student, he went to Goldsmith’s College London, and later became an R.I. Wonderful book for Hilder fans.

By Rowland Hilder, Denis Thomas,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Rowland Hilder Country as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A collection of the artist Rowland Hilder's work, this book also paints a picture of his life as a child in America, his experiences in Kent amongst the rural community and his student days at Goldsmith College.


Book cover of Walker Evans First and Last

David Poxon Author Of Watercolour, Heart & Soul

From my list on art influences.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a 5-year-old boy, I was given a tin of watercolour paints by my Grandmother. I had no idea how to use them, and there was no one around to teach me. I had to find my own way. Around the same time I was taken on a day trip to London, where we visited the Tate Gallery. It was there that I was confronted for the first time by the magnificent paintings of J.M.W.Turner. My love for art was ignited. I became a serious student of art, and although I have had to make a living in the world like everyone else, art became my go-to therapy for relief and recreation.

David's book list on art influences

David Poxon Why did David love this book?

Walker Evans was a documentary photographer. He was one of the first to discover that the photos he took of the mundane or overlooked could contain as much or more merit and compassion than the grandest scene. His work has a social consciousness which was not always appreciated at the time (1930s) in an age of great depression in the USA. He was dispatched by the Farm Agency Commission to document rural oppression in the plains and deep south of America, and his photographs hold nothing back. They tell it like it was.

By Walker Evans,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Walker Evans First and Last as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Walker Evans: First and last


Book cover of The Eye of Spirit: An Integral Vision for a World Gone Slightly Mad

Ib Vindbjerg Author Of The First Book I Wish I'd Had at Art College

From my list on creativity and consciousness.

Why am I passionate about this?

Having graduated as a teacher before undertaking an art degree has made me think that art is not just the kind of stuff we encounter in galleries, but it is about creativity in a much broader sense. Two decades in art education and galleries across London have taught me that as creatives and teachers, we do not only teach others, but we all teach each other on our journeys through life. Creativity is intricately woven into the fabric of our lives and the list of books here are some of my favourite books on the subject.

Ib's book list on creativity and consciousness

Ib Vindbjerg Why did Ib love this book?

Wilber's book contains the essay, "Integral Art and Literary Theory" which was the inspiration for my own book. The essay first appeared in Andrew Wyeth: America's Painter and is sometimes characterised as a formal exercise in art analysis, although it is much more than that. With an integral approach, it seeks to look beyond the trenches of changing academic 'discourse' and aims to integrate fundamentally different vantage points in art. It was a real leap forward when published in 1996. 

By Ken Wilber,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Eye of Spirit as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of the most influential American philosophers of our time presents his vision for a fully integrated world—a world that includes body, mind, soul, and spirit
 
In this groundbreaking book, Ken Wilber uses his widely acknowledged “spectrum of consciousness” model to completely rewrite our approach to such important fields as psychology, spirituality, anthropology, cultural studies, art and literary theory, ecology, feminism, and planetary transformation. What would each of those fields look like if we wholeheartedly accepted the existence of not just body and mind but also soul and spirit?

In a stunning display of integrative embrace, Wilber weaves these various…


Book cover of Letters of a Woman Homesteader

Rachel Kovaciny Author Of One Bad Apple

From my list on women in the wild west.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve loved learning about the Old West for as long as I can remember. Is this because I was born a few miles from the spot where Jesse James robbed his first train? Or is it because my family watched so many classic western movies and TV shows when I was a kid? Either way, writing books set in the Old West is a natural fit for me. I love researching the real history of that era just as much as I love making up stories set there. In fact, I write a column about the real history of the Wild West for a Colorado-based newspaper, The Prairie Times.

Rachel's book list on women in the wild west

Rachel Kovaciny Why did Rachel love this book?

This book delights me. It makes me laugh, it inspires me, and it makes me wish I could have met Elinore Pruitt Stewart. Even though her life certainly wasn't easy, she never lost her hope, her joy, her faith, or her sense of humor.

Stewart wrote these letters to a friend, detailing her successes and failures as a woman homesteader, and hoping to encourage other women to try forging their own lives on the frontier. Wanting to build a better life for herself and her daughter, this widow headed off into the plains of Wyoming, where she took a job keeping house for a rancher while also claiming her own homestead. Her accounts of her new life are funny, moving, and encouraging by turn.

By Elinore Pruitt Stewart, N. C. Wyeth (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Letters of a Woman Homesteader as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As a young widow with a small child, Elinore Pruitt left Denver in 1909 and set out for Wyoming, where she hoped to buy a ranch. Determined to prove that a lone woman could survive the hardships of homesteading, she initially worked as a housekeeper and hired hand for a neighbor—a kind but taciturn Scottish bachelor whom she eventually married.
Spring and summers were hard, she concedes, and were taken up with branding, farming, doctoring cattle, and other chores. But with the arrival of fall, Pruitt found time to take her young daughter on camping trips and serve her neighbors…


Book cover of Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era

Julie Satow Author Of When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion

From my list on strong New York women.

Why am I passionate about this?

I moved to New York when I was 15 and fell in love with the city. I was starting high school then, and arriving in Manhattan felt like the world opened up to me. Suddenly, I could ride the subway anywhere I wanted, see the best theater in the world, and feel as if anything was possible. The female journey has also been a topic I have long been fascinated by, and when I began my journalism career and became a wife and mother, the need to explore those dynamics grew ever more pressing. I recommend these books because they combine my two favorite topics—New York and women’s history. 

Julie's book list on strong New York women

Julie Satow Why did Julie love this book?

This is the book behind the popular FX Series Feud: Vs. The Swans. It is a well-reported history of Truman Capote’s friendships with several famous socialites, like Babe Paley and CZ Guest, and how they came to despise the author after he published a thinly veiled accounting of their lives. In my opinion, the book is much better than the television series and gives a much more accurate account of what happened.

By Laurence Leamer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Capote's Women as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SUNDAY TIMES 'SUMMER BOOKS' CHOICE

Readers LOVE Capote's Women:

'A genuinely fascinating account of a great writer and his muses.'
'Loved it! Fabulous book about a extremely complicated and complex character.'
'You won't want to put this down.'

'There are certain women,' Truman Capote wrote, 'who, though perhaps not born rich, are born to be rich.'
These women captivated and enchanted Capote - he befriended them, received their deepest confidences, and ingratiated himself into their lives. From Barbara 'Babe' Paley to Lee Radziwill (Jackie Kennedy's sister) they were the toast of mid-century New York, each beautiful and distinguished in her…


Book cover of Side Walk: 6' apart in New York City

Victoria Noe Author Of What Our Friends Left Behind: Grief and Laughter in a Pandemic

From my list on friendship and grief (and pandemics).

Why am I passionate about this?

In 2006, I told a friend I wanted to write a book about grieving the death of a friend. Despite the fact that I’d never written a book before, she gave me her enthusiastic approval. Six months later she was dead. She inspired me to turn that book idea into a series of little books: the Friend Grief series. Just as I was finishing the last one, I began work on a full-length book that took me back to my work in the early days of AIDS. When COVID began, I returned to writing about friend grief. And I lost over a dozen friends while I wrote the book.

Victoria's book list on friendship and grief (and pandemics)

Victoria Noe Why did Victoria love this book?

One of the many wistful and beautiful photos in this book caught my eye in an exhibit at the New York Historical Society in 2021.

Her photography, and the attendant essays, evoke not only the isolation of quarantine, but the ways we rediscovered the desire for human connection. What could be easier than meeting a friend, careful to stay 6’ apart? Or sadder?

By Renate Aller,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Side Walk as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In April 2020, when New York was in lockdown and the epicentre of the pandemic, Renate Aller created the project side walk. She hosted friends and neighbors on her sidewalk or visited them in their street, her camera in self timer mode, recording these masked encounters at a safe 6 feet distance. With voices muted by masks we learn to communicate with our eyes and body language, finding our bearings in a new emotional landscape. These sidewalk visits created a deep sense of community where community had been forced apart. This project is in the spirit of Rainer Maria Rilke:…


Book cover of Someone Who Isn’t Me

Chris Payne Author Of Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008

From my list on music and New York City.

Why am I passionate about this?

Where Are Your Boys is the book I always wanted to write. Watching emo bands like My Chemical Romance and Paramore soar from suburbs to stardom during my high school years inspired me to take writing seriously, that a kid like me growing up in New Jersey with few connections to the media industry could find a backdoor in, because those bands did, too. With its dense population, adjacency to New York City, and a multitude of record stores and all-ages shows, New Jersey was the setting for much of emo's 2000s boom and the home of My Chemical Romance and many other important bands. 

Chris' book list on music and New York City

Chris Payne Why did Chris love this book?

Like nothing I'd ever read before. An incredible fusing of the familiar and the fantastic. Much of it takes place in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, during the 2010s, on the same subways and sidewalks I frequented. I interviewed author Geoff Rickly extensively for my book, as his band Thursday is central to its plot. I thought I knew Geoff's story pretty well. Turns out, I had no idea.

This book is surrealist, and it's autofiction. I could tell you how great it is by stressing you don't need to know anything about Geoff or his band to be spellbound by it. But I think the best praise I could give is how it made me consider all the extraordinary things that are happening around me all the time

By Geoff Rickly,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Someone Who Isn’t Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Geoff Rickly’s debut novel Someone Who Isn’t Me is a feverish journey through the psyche of someone who no longer recognizes himself. When Geoff hears that a drug called ibogaine might be able to save him from his heroin addiction, he goes to a clinic in Mexico to confront the darkest and most destructive versions of himself. In this modern reimagining of the Divine Comedy, survival lurks in the darkest corners of Geoff’s brain, asking, will he make it? Can anyone?


Book cover of Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize

Jiordan Castle Author Of Disappearing Act: A True Story

From my list on resilience for young adults and adults.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been interested in stories about becoming. Whether it’s a coming-of-age story, a story about overcoming adversity, or a story about discovery or recovery, I find that the best books about becoming also tend to be books about resilience. For me, the lure of a book is often more about its themes and perspective than it is about where it’s categorized and shelved. Having written a memoir in verse for an upper young adult reading group, this is especially true of my experience as an author. Each of the books on this list has something profound and singular to offer young adult readers and adult readers alike.

Jiordan's book list on resilience for young adults and adults

Jiordan Castle Why did Jiordan love this book?

It’s impossible not to root for Lucy Clark. Shipped by negligent parents to a boarding school where every semblance of comfort is taken from her, and then brutally banished to NYC after a terrible accident, Lucy finds herself trying to solve a murder mystery.

The target is an elderly woman who has been grossly underestimated, much like Lucy herself. With a keen best friend, ageism-defying twists, and the rich refuge of plants and desserts, this book is a must-read for anyone who’s ever found themselves at the bottom, looking for a way back up.

By Margo Rabb,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

"A delightfully offbeat mystery that is also about the mystery of becoming yourself." -Rebecca Stead, New York Times bestselling author

In this witty and whimsical story by award-winning author Margo Rabb, a sixteen-year-old girl is suspended from boarding school and sent to New York City, where she must take care of an unconventional woman entangled in a mystery.

Lucy Clark has had it. After being bullied one too many times, Lucy retaliates. But when the fallout is far worse than she meant it to be, she gets sent to Manhattan to serve as a full-time companion to the eccentric Edith…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in New York City, presidential biography, and New York State?

New York City 1,137 books
New York State 556 books