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February and March, with chilly temps and whipping winds, can often feel like an early-year lull. But extended daylight hours bring a spot of sunny hope for spring, as can a brand-new stack of the season’s brightest art books. Peek into the visual records of Hollywood insiders, like iconic portraits by SNL’s resident photographer Mary Ellen Matthews, eclectic ephemera owned by Paper magazine’s former editor in chief Kim Hastreiter, and flashy party snaps by Vanity Fair’s own contributor Dafydd Jones, alongside bodies of work more likely to be found in the world’s white-cube galleries (a series of football-centric installations by Matthew Barney, a painterly survey of cargo ships by Richard Misrach, and a beguiling personal project by East Germany–born Anna Arendt). So grab your slippers, be they suede or fluffy, and curl up under your favorite reading lamp for an evening of cozy book bingeing.
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THE ART OF THE SNL PORTRAIT
Revisit photographer Mary Ellen Matthews’s most creative images of the show’s hosts. (Abrams)
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HOLLYWOOD: CONFIDENTIAL
Photographer Dafydd Jones’s insider snapshots go beyond the red carpets and golden statuettes. (ACC Art Books)
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THE CHATEAU MARMONT HOLLYWOOD HANDBOOK
Edited by André Balazs, owner of the Chateau Marmont, this refreshed edition of Hollywood Handbook compiles tales about the iconic Sunset Boulevard hotel. (Rizzoli)
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“SECONDARY”, 2023: Production still, Julieta Cervantes; Courtesy of the artist, publisher, Gladstone Gallery, Sadie Coles HQ, Regen Projects, and Galerie Max Hetzler.
SECONDARY
Artist Matthew Barney documents a series of performances and installations that tackle the complex pageantry within American football. (Rizzoli)
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DAVID ARMSTRONG: FASHION
Who’s the fairest of them all? The first posthumous publication from David Armstrong answers with portraits of beauty and youth among 107 images. (Matte Editions)
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STUFF: A NEW YORK LIFE OF CULTURAL CHAOS
Kim Hastreiter, cofounder of Paper magazine, catalogs an eccentric personal collection with this vivacious visual memoir. (Damiani)
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CARGO
Richard Misrach contemplates the impact of global trade on the environment through a painterly photographic study of stalwart ships. (Aperture)
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VANISHING
Photographer Anna Arendt strikes like lightning as she unearths the history of her family in East Germany, flashes of white-hot emotions illuminating the darkness around them. (Charcoal Press)
