The power of a masterful painting, the serenity of a soaring cathedral, the glory of an illuminated manuscript—these have always served as paths to the sacred. Today, publishers continue to link art and religion, matching the visual potency of architecture, painting, sculpture and photography with inspirational or historical texts on religion.
Coffee-table books on subjects from Christian iconography to Buddhist thangkas—produced by university presses, trade, art, and religion and spirituality publishers of all persuasions—are drawing equally diverse audiences. For some publishers, art and religion make a natural pair. Others have consciously chosen to join the two to appeal to crossover markets.
"We have a strong list in religion and a strong list in art," said Tina Weiner, publishing director at Yale University Press, which distributes books for London's National Gallery. "A manuscript that links the two is perfect for us." Art history has always dealt with religious art, she noted, but the new angle is that these books are reaching a more popular audience, allowing readers to connect art to their own religions. "Understanding the artistic intent can teach about religion from a different perspective," she explained. "It's a niche that hasn't been explored before."
"People have less time to read," said Joe Kulin, publisher of Parabola Books and Parabola magazine, which focus on myth and religion. "Images touch feelings—texts have a harder time doing that." In a magazine survey, Parabola readers responded favorably to questions about art, so Kulin introduced art-related titles—successfully so far. Architecture of Silence: Cistercian Abbeys of France (photographs by David Heald, text by Terryl Kinder) was named one of three best art/architecture books of 2000 by the New York Times.
"Art makes religious concepts manifest," said Peter Warner, president of Thames and Hudson. "You're face to face with the actual visual culture of the religion. In a sense, it offers experience." Thames and Hudson has most recently focused on the religious art of the east, with two titles last year: The Spirit of Asia: Journeys to the Sacred Places of the East by Michael Freeman and Alistair Shearer and The Dalai Lama's Secret Temple: Tantric Wall Paintings from Tibet by Ian Baker, photographs by Thomas Laird.
At Barnes & Noble, inspirational artist Thomas Kinkade is "far and away the leading bestseller," according to Debra Williams, director of marketing. Sales are strongest at Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day and Father's Day, and do best in the South. "The customers are mainstream, maybe a little older, who look at the works of Kinkade, for example, as an investment."
At Amazon.com, top sellers include Henri J.M. Nouwen's The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming (Image), in which a Rembrandt painting sets Nouwen's spiritual adventure in motion, and landscape photographer Ric Ergenbright's The Art of God: The Heavens and the Earth, which combines scriptural passages with photographs that testify to God's power (Tyndale). A new Ergenbright volume, Reflections, is due in September.
Jason Smith, book buyer for Transitions, said the Chicago bookstore has always been able to sell art books in its specialty of New Age/personal growth. Packaging—size, bright colors, and format—has become more important, said Smith. "Books are competing for people's limited entertainment time. People today are used to interacting—and illustrations are a way of interacting."
The Catholic market, however, seems more focused on the basics, according to Justin Victor, book buyer for Catholic Art & Gifts, a chain of five stores in Wichita, Kans.; Tulsa, Okla.; Dallas and Lewisville, Tex.; and Baton Rouge, La. He said, "There aren't any blockbuster art titles in this market."
Janet Walker, owner of Agape Christian bookstore in Bakersfield, Calif., notes that customers for religious art books are generally women between 25 and 50 who want "to give something that is beautiful with a thought-provoking message that reflects God's love. Art books are a nonthreatening way to share one's faith." The most popular among the small percentage of Christian art books she carries are by Kinkade and artist Ron DiCianni, whose Heart of a Mother Tyndale released this year.
Saints, Angels & the Holy Family
Art books depicting saints and angels are still flying high in the Christian market. Drawing on the National Gallery's comprehensive collection of religious images, Saints (Yale, June) explains the importance of saints and their role in European painting. The text, in Pocket Guide format, is by the gallery's former head of education, Erika Langmuir. Patrons and Protectors: Occupations (Liturgy Training Publications, Feb.), with illustrations and text by Michael O'Neill McGrath, offers a contemporary look at the saints. Guidance on how to pray using colored pencils reflects O'Neill's passion for the healing power of creativity. A Calendar of Saints: The Lives of the Principal Saints of the Christian Year by James Bentley features 300 color and black-and-white illustrations (Little, Brown UK, dist. by Trafalgar Square, 2000). "Religion has always been a more tangential aspect in art books, but it's now more focused," said Trafalgar's managing director, Paul Feldstein.
Angel Blessings: Cards of Sacred Guidance and Inspiration by Kimberly Maroony (Fair Winds, May) features 44 cards and a paperback guidebook. Each card highlights a different saint, and is illustrated with artwork from the masters. Angels: Celestial Spirits in Legend and Art by Jacqueline Carey (Todtri, June) details angelic literature and folk tradition, complemented by 100 reproductions of angels in works of fine art.
The story of Jesus's life, as well as that of his family and disciples, continues to attract artists and thinkers. The eight paintings and 12 pencil sketches by Liz Lemon Swindle, with text by Susan Easton Black, in Son of Man, The Early Years depict Jesus in approachable human situations (Greenwich Workshop, Sept.). Divine Mirrors: The Madonna Unveiled gathers images and essays on the virgin mother, edited by American religious historian Robert Orsi and Melissa Katz, assistant curator at the Davis Museum and Cultural Center at Wellesley College, where the title exhibition is permanently housed (Oxford, Aug.).
Andrew Walker combines reflection and illustration in Journey into Joy: Stations of the Resurrection, an adaptation of the traditional Stations of the Cross with 14 reproductions by artists from Michelangelo to El Greco (Paulist Press). Christ for All People: Celebrating a World of Christian Art, edited by Ron O'Grady, embraces all regions of the world and was prepared under the auspices of the ecumenically conscious Asian Christian Art Association (Orbis Books, Sept.).
Art vs. Religion?
The intersection of art and religion in America has often been a place of controversy, as chronicled in Crossroads: Art and Religion in American Life, edited by Alberta Arthurs and Glenn Wallach (New Press, May). Artists, art historians and scholars examine religious protests against iconoclastic contemporary art (such as the "Sensation" exhibit at the Brooklyn Public Library in 1999) and tackle the antagonism between the two. The debate is not new, as art professor Sally Promey points out in Painting Religion in Public: John Singer Sargent's Triumph of Religion at the Boston Public Library (Princeton, paper, Oct.). The book describes how, in the face of religious opposition, Sargent abandoned a mural he had worked on for 30 years, from 1890—1919. The hardcover edition won an excellence award from the American Academy of Religions in 1999. In The Visual Culture of American Religions (Univ. of California, May), Promey, with David Morgan, challenges the tension between religion and the arts by examining the profound role of art in American life. The book explores varied topics from Sioux sun dance artifacts to Jewish New Year's Cards.
The Forbidden Image: An Intellectual History of Iconoclasm (Univ. of Chicago, Mar.) by Alain Besançon, trans. from the French by Jane Marie Todd, treats the intellectual history of religious imagery. A similar title focuses solely on Judaism: Idolizing Pictures: Idolatry, Iconoclasm and Jewish Art by British lawyer Anthony Julius (Thames and Hudson, Apr.). From Sacred to Secular: Transformation of Visual Imagery in Early American Print Culture by Barbara Lacey, is due from Routledge in September.
Portraying Sacred Spaces
Armchair travelers and architecture lovers often seek spirituality through sacred spaces. In the Footsteps of Popes: A Spirited Guide to the Treasures of the Vatican, by Italian art critic Enrico Bruschini, looks at art treasures of the Vatican museums, the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica of St. Peter (Morrow, Dec.).
Bestselling author Judith Dupre, of Bridges and Skyscrapers fame, now turns her attention to houses of worship. Churches offers stories and photographs of 65 churches and their attempts to stimulate the heart and mind (HarperCollins, Nov.). Pilgrimage: A Chronicle of Christianity Through the Churches of Rome by June Hager, photography by Grzegorz Galazka, is new in paper this November (Seven Dials, dist. by Sterling). Boydell & Brewer publishes titles on medieval religious art and architecture, including Cathedral Shrines of Medieval England by Ben Nilson (June) and Romanesque Fonts of Northern Europe by C.S. Drake (Dec.), with 350 photographs of the ornamentation that depicts biblical scenes, the lives of saints and Christian symbolism.
Theaters of Conversion: Religious Architecture and Indian Artisans in Colonial Mexico by Samuel Edgerton and Jorge Perez de Lara (Univ. of New Mexico, June) focuses on Mexico's churches and convents. Allen Christenson tells of the reconstruction of a Guatemalan altarpiece in Art and Society in a Highland Maya Community: The Altarpiece of Santiago Atitlan (Univ. of Texas, Dec.).
A World of Art
Armenia was the first country to recognize Christianity as its official state religion in 301 C.E., and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles celebrates the 1700th anniversary of the founding of the Armenian church with three September titles: Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Church Art and The Bible in the Armenian Tradition, both by Vrej Nersessian, and The Armenian Gospels of Gladzor: The Life of Christ Illuminated (by Thomas Mathews and Alice Taylor), based on a 14th-century illuminated manuscript in UCLA's collection that will be on display this fall at the Getty.
This month Trafalgar Square is distributing two titles for Lion U.K.: Black Angels: The Art and Spirituality of Ethiopia by Richard Marsh is a collection of iconography of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, accompanied by prayers, writings and music. Windows Into Heaven: The Icons and Spirituality of Russia by Simon Jenkins presents images from the Russian Orthodox church as a focus for meditation and prayer.
Courtney Davis's Celtic Ornament: Art of the Scribe (Cassell, dist. by Sterling, Oct.) celebrates Celtic Christianity's artistic tradition. And in June, Markus Wiener capitalizes on the growing interest in Caribbean studies with Afro-Cuban Religions by Miguel Barnet.
Looking East
As spiritual seekers who find inspiration in Eastern religions are becoming more mainstream, so "the spirituality market is turning more gifty," said Christopher Wold, director of sales and marketing at Weiser/ Red Wheel. "Mind/ body/ spirit used to appeal mainly to the 'crunchy granola' crowd and now it's playing from Iowa to Park Avenue."
In Tibet, art itself is a focus for meditation, reflection and spiritual consciousness. Tibet: Buddhas, Gods, Saints, edited by Clara Wilpert with a foreword by the Dalai Lama, explains and illustrates a selection of thangkas (scrolls for meditation), cultic sculptures, ritual and everyday items from the Tibet Collection at the Museum der Kulturen in Basel (Prestel, June). Tibetan Painting by Hugo Kreijer reproduces 100 Tibetan thangka paintings from the 12th to 20th centuries (Shambhala, Aug.). Thangkas: The Story of Siddhartha and Other Buddhas Interpreted in Modern Nepalese Painting by Ben Meulenbeld (Binkey Kok, dist. by Weiser/Red Wheel, Feb.), Crystal Mirror: Sacred Art in India and Tibet (Dharma, June), and The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Buddhist Wisdom by Gill Farrer-Halls (Quest, 2000) all explore Eastern motifs.
Hindus worldwide draw inspiration from the timeless traditions of painting and sculpture. For Indian painter Indra Sharma, work is worship, a medium for offering prayer. In the World of Gods and Goddesses: The Mystic Art of Indra Sharma (Mandala, Oct.) portrays the pantheon of Hindu deities. Art Treasures of the Mahabharata by artist Bhaktisiddhanta (Torchlight, 2000) depicts India's cherished spiritual epic. The book will be featured on Torchlight's upcoming Web site, Mahabharata.com. For Indian "pop" art, see Cock: Indian Firework Art by Gavin Aldred, which introduces the bright images of Krishna, Vishnu and other Hindu deities that adorn the labels of holiday fireworks (Westzone, dist. by Trafalgar Square, Mar.). Stones of Sanctity: Art and Architecture of Jain Temples by M.A. Dhaki (Antique Collectors Club) reflects the distinctiveness of the Jain religion.
The mammoth 415-page Taoism and the Arts of China is based on the first major exhibition on the subject at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute/Univ. of California, 2000); it was edited by curator Stephen Little with Shawn Eichman.
Looking Middle East
Books on art and Judaism are the exception rather than the trend, said Ellen Frankel, editor-in-chief at the Jewish Publication Society. "Judaism has always been more focused on words rather than images," she said, noting that the production expense and labor-intensive process necessitate increased print runs that are difficult to sustain. JPS recently published two books in this category, both culminations of years of work and funded by grant money. The Illustrated Torah (2000), with paintings by Orthodox Israeli artist Michal Meron, is an unusual hybrid of sacred text and folk art. To capture the myriad images in Synagogues Without Jews (2000), art/architecture historians Rivka and Ben-Zion Dorfman scoured the European countryside to photograph synagogues that were not destroyed in the Holocaust.
Islam has also traditionally separated word and image, according to scholar Oleg Grabar, author of Islamic Art and Literature (Aug.). Publisher Markus Wiener's niche in this field has grown from its relationship as publisher for Princeton University's Near Eastern Studies Department.
Harper San Francisco has collected images from most of the world's religions in The Quest for Paradise: Visions of Heaven and Eternity in the World's Myths and Religions by John Ashton and Tom Whyte (Dec.). The book features 200 illustrations
With the number of new titles that mirror the intersection of the visual and the spiritual, readers may discover their own versions of heaven on earth: art that reflects their hopes and beliefs.
