A diverse range of new books hitting the shelves in Arts this week.
Alex Katz : an American way of seeing: editors Riitta Valorinta, Guy Tosatto & Guido de Werdo

Kerber, 2009
Katz’s almost cartoon-like portraits have been described as making “enigmas of people”, and they are at one and the same time devoid of animation and yet strangely compelling. You decide…..
We English by Simon Roberts

Chris Boot Ltd., 2009
This lovely large format book of photographs is essentially a photo-essay of British landscapes, peopled by the English at leisure; and nobody does leisure in a more endearingly quirky way than the English!
100 best Australian albums by John O’Donnell, Toby Creswell and Craig Mathieson

Hardie Grant Books, 2010
The authors here put their lives on the line and name the top 100 Australian rock albums of the last 50 years! The book comes complete with background histories, photos and enough detail to keep most classic-rock tragics either nodding their heads in furious agreement or reaching for the nearest mobile texting device; witness protection scheme anyone?
Savage art : 20th century genre and the artists that defined it: introduction by Frank M. Robinson

Underwood Books, 2010
Their names may not be familiar anymore, but artists such as Walter Baumhofer and Rafael de Soto virtually invented the 20th century action/thriller genre with their beautifully painted (and often incredibly lurid!) covers for the notorious American pulp magazines of the twenties and thirties. Neglected masters, if you ask me.
Meerreeng-an here is my country : the story of Aboriginal Victoria told through art, edited by Chris Keeler and Vicki Couzens

Koorie Heritage Trust Inc., 2010
The story of Aboriginal life and culture in Victoria from the 19th century to the present day, as told through over 350 beautiful works of art, produced in conjunction with the Koorie Heritage Trust.