The portrait is considered a particularly classic and traditional genre in art history. Since antiquity, portraiture has been regarded as capturing the personality and the desired idealized qualities such as power, wealth and beauty. Portraits initially had little in common with a true likeness, as they captured an idea rather than the real person behind it. It was only in the last two centuries that portrait painting was to depict real people and their characteristics.

The series "Books" by Cony Theis refers directly to the tradition of portrait painting - but the people portrayed are not people, but books. Using delicate ink and watercolor drawings, the artist captures the essence of the books through the depiction of the book cover, thereby giving them a kind of personality of their own. The series of works includes portraits of literary classics or catalogs raisonnés of other artists and invites the viewer to experience their favorite works in a different way.