Paintings of, and which include, books are a common subject in art and can take many forms, from realistic depictions of specific books to more abstract interpretations of the idea of the book.
Some paintings depict books as objects of beauty, paying tribute to their covers, bindings, and pages, or the artist may choose to depict a specific book or a collection of books.Other paintings depict books in a more symbolic or metaphorical way, representing knowledge, wisdom, and the written word: these works often depict open books, with the pages shown as blank or with text. These works may be abstract and make use of different colors and shapes to evoke the themes they are representing.
Artists including
Grace Kotze and
Mila Posthumus incorporate books in their paintings.
