Playing The Blue Danube while seated backwards; tormenting a page‑turner by tugging on a tie; spending an absurd amount of time adjusting the bench before playing a note — all of these routines worked because he treated trivial actions with the seriousness usually reserved for a difficult passage, allowing classical decorum itself to become comic material.

As a portrait painter, Alice Neel was not interested in flattery. She preferred dissection. Her work lives at the intersection of psychological autopsy and radical empathy — a combination that makes her portraits feel simultaneously clinical and intimate; she painted revelation — what her sitters tried, often unconsciously, to conceal.

Bass wasn't interested in artistic self-expression. He was interested in solving problems. A corporate logo needed to work at any size. A film title sequence needed to establish tone and prepare audiences before the narrative began. A poster needed to communicate its message instantly. Form always served function.

If art, as a whole, could be thought of as a universal language — every culture on Earth indulges in it — then different types of art could be considered its many dialects, with books being one of my favorites. Yes, writing — and good writing at that — should be considered an art form. So, I’ve decided to share some of my favorite art-related books in the hopes they sow the seed of curiosity to explore other dialects of art within you.