Mark Lamster

I am a writer on architecture, design, and the arts, presently at work on a biography of the late architect Philip Johnson.


My most recent book, Master of Shadows, is a political biography of the artist Peter Paul Rubens, who led a double life as a diplomat and spy. It is published in the United States by Nan A. Talese/ Doubleday and in Dutch translation as
De Meester van de Schaduw by De Bezige Bij. It is available in stores everywhere or via the web from your bookseller of choice:

-Amazon
-Barnes & Noble
-Borders
-Independents everywhere


Find me on:
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Praise for Master of Shadows

A Best Read of 2009
—Providence Journal

"A Fascinating study."
—The Telegraph (A Book of the Year)

"Mark Lamster is a brave writer....His affection for his subject is so complete—and completely convincing—his style is so gracefully unpretentious and his research is so thorough that “Master of Shadows” manages to be engaging, instructive and thought-provoking, all at once."
—The Los Angeles Times

"A different kind of artist's biography....Gripping reading."
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Highbrow and Brilliant
—NY Magazine Approval Matrix

"An exceptional book."
—Library Journal

A Daily Beast "Hot Read"

Selected as an Indie Next Notable Book for November 2009

"Rubens’s story surprises and dazzles."
—Kirkus

"In elegant brushstrokes, and using as his subject the painter/diplomat Rubens, Mark Lamster gives us here a vivid portrait of 17th century Europe and the political intrigue that led to the modern world."
—Russell Shorto, author, The Island at the Center of the World

"Mark Lamster looks beyond Rubens’s talent for era-defining sensual nudes and delves into his little-known career as a diplomat and spy. The result is an exhilarating portrait of an age as dramatic and richly toned as one of Rubens’s gigantic canvases."
—Ross King, author, Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling

More praise here.

***
My first book, Spalding's World Tour, was an Editor's Choice selection of the NYTBR. It tells the story of America's first cultural diplomats, an intrepid group of professional baseball players who fully circled the globe in the late 19th century.

Lunch with the Critics: Park 51 & 15 Penn
(Design Observer)
Lunch with the Critics: Lincoln Center
(Design Observer)
The Virtues & Perils of Design Thinking
(Architect)
The Eighty Years War in Ninety Minutes
(Mediaite)
Last Stop on the Way to Ellis Island
(Wall Street Journal)
The AIA Guide to NYC
(Architect)
Leo and His Circle
(LA Times)
The Architect 50: #1 SOM
(Architect)
The Guru Track
(Design Observer)
When Artists "Borrow"
(LA Times)
What Am I Doing Here?
(Design Observer)
Art of the Steal
(Architect's Newspaper)
A Clean Slate
(Dwell)
Big Book, Small Reward
(Design Observer)
Hearts of the City
(LA Times)
The Aughts in Architecture & Design
(Mediaite)
The Goldberger Standard
(ID)
Peter Paul Rubens: Graphic Designer
(Design Observer)
Lessons on the Art of Diplomacy
(Huffington Post)
The Art of Diplomacy
(WSJ)
Next Door, New York
(Print)
Ron Arad at Moma
(ID)
Play Ball
(Metropolis)
Bottom of the Ninth
(LA Times)
A Terrible Spendor
(Bookforum)
Le Corbusier: Tres Grand
(Print)