Get in touch
Looking for something specific for a scheme of work? Email education@frankbowlingfoundation.org and we will point you to the right reading.
Bibliography for teachers
A short reading list for teachers and anyone new to Frank Bowling’s work. These titles are widely available, generously illustrated, and useful for classroom preparation across art, history and geography.
For the complete list of writing on Bowling, see the full bibliography.
Start here
If you read one book, read one of these. Both give a full overview of the career with plenty of images.
- Heyse-Moore, Dominique. Frank Bowling, London: Tate Publishing, 2025
- Gooding, Mel. Frank Bowling, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2011 (2nd revised edition, 2015)
Major exhibition catalogues
Catalogues from the large survey exhibitions. Good for showing how one artist’s work is framed and re-framed over time.
- Crippa, Elena (ed.). Frank Bowling, exh. cat., Tate Britain, London, 2019 (signed limited edition, 2025)
- Brace, Gemma (ed.). Land of Many Waters, exh. cat., Arnolfini, Bristol, 2021
- Price, Dorothy. Frank Bowling: Landscape, exh. cat., Hauser & Wirth, West Hollywood, 2023
Cross-curricular reading
Useful where art links to geography, history or citizenship — maps, migration, place and identity.
- Gooding, Mel. Frank Bowling: The Map Paintings 1967–1971, exh. cat., Hales Gallery, London, 2013 (2nd revised edition, 2015)
- Martin, Courtney J. Frank Bowling: The Poured Paintings, exh. cat., Hales Gallery, London, 2015
- Cornish, Sam. Frank Bowling: Sculpture, Ridinghouse, London, 2022
Free online resources
- Who is Frank Bowling? — Tate Kids introduction to the artist and his work
- Make an Amazing Messy Painting — Tate Kids activity inspired by Bowling’s techniques
- Our own downloadable schemes of work are on the schools and teachers page