Art in focus

Eschewing the heavyweight doorstop format of many art books, these beautiful and compact Phaidon Focus artist monographs are small and slick, and refreshingly affordable.

Andy Warhol cover
Andy Warhol cover

Each book provides an overview of a single artist’s work, managing to cover the origins, development, style and theme of their work in a neat, 144 page edition.

Anselm Kiefer spread
Anselm Kiefer spread

The series has been designed by Julia Hasting, the Zurich-based design director at Phaidon Press, who manages to create a clean, fresh look that  – as art book design should – put the artists’ work centre stage.

Francis Bacon cover
Francis Bacon cover

The first six titles cover the artists Francis Bacon, Anselm Kiefer, Brice Marden, Robert Rauschenberg, David Smith and Andy Warhol; and the series will then launch a further six books in October, covering artists including Cindy Sherman and Joseph Beuys.

Brice Marden pages
Brice Marden pages

Each year, more artists will be added, aiming to eventually form a complete introduction to visual art.

Robert Rauschenberg cover
Robert Rauschenberg cover

Coated in a translucent grey plastic with a clear window, the book’s pared back approach continues with clean, black typography on a white background. Never cluttered, but resolutely in-depth, the series manages to condense some of the 20th century’s most famous artists’ work into small, but by no means diminutive introductions.

Andy Warhol pages, showing the iconic Campbell's can
Andy Warhol pages, showing the iconic Campbell’s can

The Phaidon Focus series is available now, with each book priced £14.95

Francis Bacon pages
Francis Bacon pages
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