Hal Foster, Compulsive Beauty.

Foster can take a complex, ingenious idea and explain it so clearly and logically that he makes it seem almost commonsense.  I cited this book in three separate essays during my MLitt, and I’m pretty sure I mentally reference it fairly often in my post-academic life.  If I had to pick a favorite art historian, it would definitely be Hal Foster—although strangely, that question is missing from Facebook’s ‘personal information’ section, and from most conversations.