1. the most important to me as a new christian (who was already an artist) were:
schaeffer’s art and the bible
rookmaaker’s modern art and the death of culture
chaplin and brand – art and soul: signposts for christians in the arts

2. however, critically, i think the most important books for thinking through art would be:
brueggemann’s prophetic imagination
the liberated imagination: thinking critically about the arts by leland ryken
hyde’s the gift

3. lastly, the 3 books i would probably recommend as “the best of both worlds” would be:
chaplin and brand – art and soul: signposts for christians in the arts
daniel siedell – god in the gallery
it was good: making art to the glory of G-d by ned bustard

as a christmas bonus, here’s a [partial] list culled from my library:
rookmaaker – art needs no justification
detweiler – a matrix of meanings
arts’n'faith authors in general: doyeweerd, luttikhuizen, zuidervaart, and edward veith jr.
eugene peterson – subversive spirituality
friesens -artists, citizens, philosophers: seeking the peace of the city
betty spackman – a profound weakness: christians and kitsch
dyrness – a visual faith: art, theology and worship in dialogue
gene edward veith – state of the arts: from bezalel to mapplethorpe greg wolfe – intruding upon the timeless: meditations on art, faith and mystery
paul avis – god and the creative imagination: metaphor, symbol & myth in religion and theology
harold best – unceasing worship: biblical perspectives on worship and the arts macgregor and langmuir – seeing salvation: images of christ in art by ryken (editor) – the dictionary of biblical imagery: an encyclopedic exploration of the images, symbols, motifs, metaphors, figures of speech and literary patterns of the bible

I’ll check it out.

Tony-