The Pursuit of Art
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The Pursuit of Art by Martin Gayford
In the course of a career thinking and writing about art, Martin Gayford has travelled all over the world both to see works of art and to meet artists. Gayford’s journeys, often to fairly inaccessible places, involve frustrations and complications, but also serendipitous encounters and outcomes, which he makes as much a part of the story as the final destination. Entertaining and informative, Gayford includes trips to see Brancusi’s Endless Column in Romania, prehistoric cave art in France, the museum island of Naoshima in Japan, the Judd Foundation in Marfa, Texas, and a Roni Horn work in Iceland. Interwoven with these accounts are journeys to meet artists – Robert Rauschenberg in New York, Marina Abramovic in Venice, Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris – or travels with artists, such as a trip to Beijing with Gilbert & George. These encounters not only provide insights into the way artists approach and think about their art but also reveal the importance of their personal environments. And in the process, Gayford discusses how these meetings have impacted on his own evolving ideas and tastes.
'Gayford is a great travelling companionWhere art criticism can be pompous, wordy and jargon-filled, here he’s warm, honest, confiding, intelligent, yes, but never talking down to his reader' - Shiny New Books
'Martin Gayford is a perceptive and informed critic who has been writing about art for several decades and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of his subject … Gayford’s light touch makes it a thumping good read' - The Artist
'An admirable book … one of [Gayford’s] talents is the ability to convey the essence of an artist’s work, a style or an art movement in clear, concise passages that contain no jargon' - Country Life
'A charming short book about [Gayford’s] peregrinations and how different contexts have affected his thinking about the art and the artists' - Michael Prodger’s Books of the Year, Sunday Times
'The experience of reading Gayford’s travelogue is buoyed along by his crisp, lucid prose … In its understated way, the book offers a kind of modern-day equivalent to Herodotus – with Gayford dutifully trudging the earth, reporting on things both incidental and profound' - Times Literary Supplement
'Martin Gayford is a perceptive and informed critic who has been writing about art for several decades and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of his subject … Gayford’s light touch makes it a thumping good read' - The Artist
'An admirable book … one of [Gayford’s] talents is the ability to convey the essence of an artist’s work, a style or an art movement in clear, concise passages that contain no jargon' - Country Life
'A charming short book about [Gayford’s] peregrinations and how different contexts have affected his thinking about the art and the artists' - Michael Prodger’s Books of the Year, Sunday Times
'The experience of reading Gayford’s travelogue is buoyed along by his crisp, lucid prose … In its understated way, the book offers a kind of modern-day equivalent to Herodotus – with Gayford dutifully trudging the earth, reporting on things both incidental and profound' - Times Literary Supplement
Martin Gayford is art critic for The Spectator and the author of acclaimed books on Van Gogh, Constable and Michelangelo. He is the author of many books, including Man with a Blue Scarf, Rendez-vous with Art, (with Philippe de Montebello), A Bigger Message, Modernists & Mavericks, A History of Pictures (with David Hockney), The Pursuit of Art and Spring Cannot be Cancelled, all published by Thames & Hudson.
SKU | CIN050009411XG |
ISBN 13 | 9780500094112 |
ISBN 10 | 050009411X |
Title | The Pursuit of Art |
Author | Martin Gayford |
Condition | Good |
Binding Type | Hardback |
Publisher | Thames & Hudson Ltd |
Year published | 2019-09-19 |
Number of pages | 192 |
Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
Note | This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us |