From the pages of the British art magazine Modern Painter comes Writers on Artists, an immensely readable collection of works written on a wide selection of artists. Included visual artists range from legends like Matisse and Brancusi to contemporary firebrands like Damien Hirst and filmmaker Harmony Korine. The writers are other artists, art critics, fiction writers, and poets, all deeply moved by and invested in the artwork they've written about. Author Nick Hornby of High Fidelity fame finds inspiration in Richard Bellingham's tragic but unsentimental photographic portraits of his alcoholic father and overweight mother. In dramatic contrast, op artist Bridget Riley traces the artistic development of Piet Mondrian while praising his vivid use of color. Not surprisingly, each writer approaches art and writing very differently. British poet laureate Andrew Motion writes a poem about the work of hyperrealist American sculptor Duane Hanson, while art lover and musician David Bowie records an interview and spends a day with bad-girl British sensation Tracey Emin. Each section includes brief bios on both artist and writer. With topnotch artwork and great writers, this book is a joy for any art aficionado. --J.P. Cohen


From Publishers Weekly
Will Self on Damien Hirst, Nick Hornby on Richard Billingham, and A.S. Byatt on Patrick Heron are just a few of the 39 Writers on Artists to be found in this large-format collection. Each short essay is accompanied by careful reproductions of the artist in question's work and biographical sidebars on the writers. Unfortunately, with a preponderance of British writers and artists, and very few women (eight of a possible 78, including editor Karen White's introduction and Sister Wendy Beckett's comments on Salvador Dal¡) represented, this book will be a tough sell to American art lovers. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
Featuring 50 of the century's greatest artists, Writers on Artist brings together the best and brightest of the art and literary worlds. Covering the gamut of modern art the collection includes essays by David Bowie on Tracey Emin, A.S. Byatt on Patrick Heron, David Hockney on Picasso, Sister Wendy Beckett on Salvador Dali, and Julian Barnes on Edgar Degas. This stimulating anthology features rare interviews and over 350 stunning full-color reproductions of many rarely seen works.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Featuring 50 of the century's greatest artists, Writers on Artist brings together the best and brightest of the art and literary worlds. Covering the gamut of modern art the collection includes essays by David Bowie on Tracey Emin, A.S. Byatt on Patrick Heron, David Hockney on Picasso, Sister Wendy Beckett on Salvador Dali, and Julian Barnes on Edgar Degas. This stimulating anthology features rare interviews and over 350 stunning full-color reproductions of many rarely seen works.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly