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Art Bookshops - Resources for Artists

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How to find a good art bookshop

This site is developing a list of good art bookshops. Starting with bookshops in London, the intention is to identify other good bookshops in the UK and other countries

Naturally it's a work in progress and new links will be added from time to time. If you know of a good bookshop and would like to recommend it please leave your suggestion as a comment

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National Gallery Bookshop

My photographs of the National Gallery Bookshop

Many thanks to the Manager for allowing me to take photographs for my review of the bookshop - see Art Bookshop Review: The National Gallery Bookshop

Where you can find art books in London #1

Bookshops in Art Galleries and Museums in London

These are the museums and art galleries which have good bookshops

National Gallery BookShops, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London: Read my review: Art Bookshop Review: The National Gallery Bookshop
Bottom line - if you want to look at the artbooks, you need to go to the Sainsbury Wing. It's just had a refurbishment and now has a new layout and new shelving.

There are three permanent shops in the Gallery which offer more products than can be seen on website.
(1) Sainsbury Wing shop: located on the ground floor of the Sainsbury Wing, offers a very wide range selection of art books and gifts related to the collection. The book department offers both the full range of National Gallery publications and several thousand books from other publishers, making this one of the premier specialist art bookshops in London. Following the hatchet job Waterstones did on its Piccadilly branch (see below) this is now my art bookshop of choice in LondonHIGHLY RECOMMENDED
(2) The Portico Shop: at the top of the entrance staircase in the main building this is geared more towards gifts and postcards, books and other merchandise. NOT a serious bookshop
(3) East Wing shop: this shop next to the Sir Paul Getty entrance is again geared towards exhibition catalogues and a range of guidebooks, gifts and postcards.

Shops are open daily 10am - 5.45pm, Friday until 8.45pm.

National Gallery Company Limited is the trading arm of the National Gallery, London. It manages the bookshops and museum retail, publishes books and licenses reproductions of the Gallery's paintings.
British Museum - Shop: The British Museum Shop has an excellent selection of books relating to art history. Many of the titles reflect the Museum collection and/or are published by British Museum Press and written by curators and keepers within the Museum.
The shop is located on the ground floor of the north side of the Great Court
Books & Catalogues - Royal Academy of Arts: The Royal Academy has a shop on the first floor which has a reasonable range of books - often oriented towards current or past exhibitions and Royal Academicians.
Tate Britain Shops: Shop opening hours at Tate Britain are 10.00-17.40 Monday to Sunday
To contact the shops at Tate Britain call 020 7887 8888 or email shop.britain@tate.org.uk

Tate Britain is the national gallery of British art. The Collection comprises the national collection of British art from the year 1500 to the present day, plus some international modern art.

Tate Britain has two shops selling art books and the sort of "stuff" that art galleries sell. The Millbank Shop is on the first floor on the Millbank side of the Building. The Manton shop is in the basement at the side of the building next to the Chelsea College of Art. They offer a book ordering and mailing service.

The Millbank shop has a very extensive range of art books related to the British Art.
Tate Modern Shop: Shop opening hours at Tate Modern are: 10.00-18.00 Sunday - Thursday; 10.00-22.00 Friday - Saturday
To contact the shops at Tate Modern call 0207 401 5167 or email shop.modern@tate.org.uk

The main shop on Level 1 boasts that it has the widest range in the UK of books on modern art and culture. Services through this shop include book ordering of any in print title in English and mailing around the world. There are two more shops on Level 2 and Level 4 (the exhibition shop)
Bankside Gallery: Post: Bankside Gallery, 48 Hopton Street, London, SE1 9JH.
Telephone: 020 7928 7521
Fax: 020 7928 2820
Email: info@banksidegallery.com

The Bankside Gallery Bookshop is the destination store for those interested in both the history and practice of watercolour and printmaking. The selection on offer covers art monographs; how-to-do-it books on painting and printmaking techniques; art fiction; art books for children and guides to London. They also stock a range of artist materials, gift items and greeting cards.

Mail order purchases are possible by email or over the phone. Please contact info@banksidegallery.com or 0207 928 7521 for further information.
Bookshop | Mall Galleries, The Mall London: The Mall Galleries bookshop specialises in titles relating to British figurative art, ranging from artist monographs to books devoted to contemporary wildlife and marine art, and includes specialist art magazines and tutorial DVDs.

Plus an extensive collection of reference guides on artistic techniques, covering a variety of media and encompassing all levels, from beginner to professional.
Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, London: Institute of Contemporary Arts - Shop sells books about : Art and Art Theory; Classic Theory; Film and Media; Cultural Theory and Design

Where you can find art books in London #2

Commercial Art Book Shops

Below you'll find a range of commercial bookshops which provide:
- a comprehensive selection of art books
- or stock specialist art books
By and large the best range of art books can be found in the 'flagship' stores of notable book stores

Hatchards Bookshop: Hatchards, booksellers since 1797, is the oldest surviving bookshop in London. Staff have a reputation for knowledgeable and professional service. The well stocked art section is on the top floor at the back of the shop, is always quiet and the books are well lit and well laid out making browsing a real pleasure

Hatchards is situated at: 187 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9LE
(Next door to Fortnum & Mason, opposite The Royal Academy)
Telephone: 020 7439 9921
Fax: 020 7494 1313
Email: books@hatchards.co.uk

Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday 9.30 - 7.00 pm and Sunday 12.00 - 6.00 pm
Waterstones in Piccadilly: Waterstones is the UK's leading bookseller. Waterstone's Piccadilly is the flagship store in the UK and opened in September 1999, in the old Simpsons building. It has eight floors open to the public, six of which are dedicated to books. It has 150,000 titles in stock and over eight and a half miles of shelving.
OLD: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
The art bookshop is up on the fifth floor and is bigger than most general bookshops you find in the high street. See my review Gardens in Art: 2 bookshops and 1001 Gardens
NEW: I DON'T LIKE IT ANYMORE!
Waterstones has moved all the art books down to the first floor. No more comfy sofas. No more space. No more well laid out shelving. Instead the books are cramped in a corner with bad lighting. Books are also stuffed into shelves so tightly it's horrendous trying to get books in and out. Plus most of it is below waist level which when combined with the overfull shelves and bad lighting makes reading book titles virtually impossible. I now pass by on the outside and think of the good old days.

I'm leaving this entry in, in the hope that they'll see sense and revert to a more sensible arrangement.
Foyles - Charing Cross Road: 113-119 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0EB
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7437 5660 Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7434 1574
Email: customerservices@foyles.co.uk

Foyles has been on the Charing Cross Road since 1906 and became one of the most celebrated bookshops in the world. Charing Cross Road is Foyle's flagship store. The store had a complete refurbishment in 2004. At Foyles the heads of department are also the buyers and Foyles suggest that they are experts in their stock and subjects.

I have to confess I haven't been to the Charing Cross Store in years as paying for a book used to be horrendous - although it looks like they've undergone major changes since my last visit.
Foyles at St. Pancras International: Foyles at St Pancras International, The Arcade. Pancras Road NW1 2QP
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3206 2650 / Fax: +44 (0) 20 7833 2375
Email: stp@foyles.co.uk

A boutique bookshop at the heart of London's most beautiful station. If you're on your way to Paris via Eurostar to visit the art museums then you might find something to interest you in here - however the shop is constrained by size from stocking very much of interest to art lovers.
Foyles at Royal Festival Hall: Foyles
Southbank Centre, Riverside, London SE1 8XX
tel: +44 (0) 20 7440 3212 Fax: +44 (02) 0 7981 9739
Email: rfh@foyles.co.uk
Open from 10am-10pm every day.

Opened in June 2005, the Royal Festival Hall branch sits right on the riverside in the heart of the Southbank Centre. As one might expect it leans towards music. However it also includes an interesting, although not large, selection of books about Art / Photography / Architecture
Thomas Heneage Art Books, Duke Street, London: Thomas Heneage Art Books was founded in 1977. The business focuses on selling art books and specialises in books for the art market (dealers and collectors). The core business is catalogues raisonnés, monographs and international exhibition catalogues. They stock the most authoritative book on any subject and in any language, irrespective of its being new or second hand.

Read my review Art Bookshop Review: Thomas Heneage Art Books
Art books from Zwemmer: Zwemmer Art 24 Litchfield Street London WC2H 9NJ
Tel: 020 7240 4158 Fax: 020 7836 7049

Zwemmers' history is matched only by the story of its' involvement in the art world. Artists such as Dali, Picasso and Henry Moore were first exposed to British audiences through shows at the original Zwemmer gallery. Art books from Zwemmer, the online bookshop. Art history, contemporary art and worldwide art books. Zwemmer also has shops in several major city locations around the UK and you can buy books online.

Reviews of art bookshops

reviews on Making A Mark and Making A Mark Reviews

I review bookshops for artists that I know about and can recommend. You can see photos of the bookshops in my reviews

The Bankside Gallery Bookshop: One of the regular bookshops I visit is the one at the Bankside Gallery. It's not very large but it has an excellent selection of books. As one might one expect from the Gallery which is the home of the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers there's a rather good selection of books for fine art print-makers and those who paint using water-based paints - but that's not all they do.
Gardens in Art: 2 bookshops and 1001 Gardens: After visiting the Impressionists by the Sea exhibition, I visited two of the best book shops in London for art. Hatchards and the Piccadilly flagship branch of Waterstones are both located in the south side of Piccadilly between the Royal Academy and Piccadilly Circus (Waterstones is in the old Simpsons on the Strand building and has five stories). Both have very extensive and well stocked art sections.
Making a Mark reviews......: Art Bookshop Review: Thomas Heneage Art Books: Of interest to: art lovers, students of art history, gallery owners, art dealers, art exhibition visitors, art students and art teachers
Summary: This is the bookshop to go to if:
* you love art history books
* you're trying to track down an art history book or catalogue that you want.
Making a Mark reviews......: Art Bookshop Review: The National Gallery Bookshop: Of interest to: art lovers, exhibition visitors, art students, art teachers, and art history buffs
Summary: An art bookshop which is well worth a visit. Besides fulfilling its role of helping to explain the art in exhibitions and on display, it also has a much wider range of good quality art books. Visual accessories in the form of postcards and prints complement but do not overpower the bookshop.
Making a Mark reviews......: Botanical Art Bookshop Review - Kew Gardens: A bookshop to go to if you have a special interest in botanical art, botanical artists and/or drawing and painting gardens, flowers, plants or trees. It's useful and good but could be even better.

BOOKS: About Bookshops serving artists

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Art Instruction Books - The Basics

Art Education - Resources for Artists

Making A Mark

Artist and author Katherine Tyrrell draws and writes about art for artists and art lovers.

Topics include: artists, art exhibitions, art blogs; art history; art techniques and tips; art business and marketing; art economy and making a mark with pastels, coloured pencils and pen and ink.

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Making a Mark reviews......

a consumer's guide to quality and value in art books, art supplies and services to artists

Read reviews about art books, art supplies and other products and services used by artists.

This blog highlights:
- book reviews (art instruction and art history)
- reviews of art media, art materials and art equipment
- reviews of places where you buy (art shops, online art suppliers and art bookshops)
- reviews of other products or services used by artists
- summaries of good quality and relevant reviews by other practising artists

My aim is to try and identify good quality and good value.

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makingamark

I'm an artist and writer who enjoys sharing information about art. Making A Mark is rated #3 in the top 25 UK art blogs. I'm also a member of the Giants... more »

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