In My View: Personal Reflections on Art by Today's Leading Artists

For all professional artists and art historians this book provids an insight into life as an Artist today and what influences their work, their interests and ideas.

If the late Thomas Kincaid (the USA's best-selling artist, and painter of cringingly treacly greetings card landscapes with, he says, God guiding his hand) lies at one end of the art spectrum, and, say, Kasimir Malevich (a white square on a larger white square) is at the other, then that makes me a middle-of-the-roader. Which may possibly explain why I haven't heard of 90% of the "leading artists" whose views are encapsulated here (and those I have heard of are mostly known to me for not the best of reasons).To be fair to the author, he himself doesn't call them "leading" artists, just "international artists" so it's presumably the publishers who are responsible for the misleading subtitle. The author's more accurate description may offer another reason why I haven't heard of most of them, for in many cases they live in far away places. I don't follow art in Poland, Austria, Japan, Mexico and Puerto Rico, to name a few of the many countries represented, or of seemingly homeless artists (one contributor being described as simply living and working "in situ").Having no idea what the majority do, it was thus deflating to find that so few of the contributors show their own art; I would have thought that the whole point of hearing an artist's account of his major influences is to see how they have affected his work. There is not much point in a German lady telling us how she was influenced by J M W Turner, for example, if we can't see where it led her. However, I suspect, on the evidence of those who do show their own work, that most. if not all, of these artists, despite often citing old masters as their inspiration, are what are today termed "modernists".The essays are a very mixed bunch, some a couple of paragraphs, some a page or two, some straining credibility by extreme flights of fancy, others down to earth. Not all the contributors appear to be "artists" in the sense that many might think; I allow photographers to be artists (I'm one) but there seem to be architects and interior designers in here as well.Artists' writings are of great interest to art historians - the compiler and editor being such. If any of these artists' reputations survive, or even become enhanced, say, 100 years after their deaths, future art historians will owe him a debt of gratitude. But, for me here and now, the absence of examples of most of the artists' work seriously reduced not just the value of the book, but also the value of the individual contributions. Presumably Amazon's "look inside" feature will show the list of contributors; it would be best to look at it first to see if sufficient are known to you to make it a worthwhile purchase.ADDENDUM: Two days after writing the above, I took delivery of Theodora Philcox's "Still Life in Oils". At under £6, the publishers claim that it's aimed at "developing the skills of the amateur"; but not only is the editor an art historian like Grant, but her 22 contributors from 9 different countries are no less distinguished than those in Grant's book, more so in some cases - and whilst writing about their inspirations and techniques, they show their work in detail. Not only is the format similar, therefore, it's much superior. See my review.

This is an interesting book that presents artworks which have inspired or influenced 75 contemporary artists. Some of these make perfect sense, as in sculptor Michael Craig-Martin choosing the father of conceptual art Marcel Duchamp or sculptor Anthony Gormley choosing the great sculptor Jacob Epstein. However, the majority just seem rather random, for example Ed Ruscha on John Everett Millais, and many others do not have examples of the work by the contemporary artists therefore it is hard to see how they have been inspired by the chosen works.So basically what we have is a selection of photographs of artworks - including paintings, sculpture, photography, architecture - from the fifteenth century up to the present day, with a commentary by a modern artist. Some of these commentaries are informed and insightful, others use the chosen work as a starting point to to make personal comments on wider aspects of art, while others are just vague. I did enjoy looking at the images and I did read a few of the pieces but in the end this seemed to me a contrived exercise in curating.

This is a fascinating and interestingly informative book for any contemporary art lover. It is like wandering around a gallery with an informed and objective companion. The choices of work are often surprising and revealing, and the reviewers are not just the obvious gliteratti of the trans-continental art scene, but are truly international - leading to voyages of discovery for me in looking them up once their oppinions have impressed.

Garbage book that offers nothing to the discourse

I enjoyed this book a great deal - I found the work of artists from the past far more engaging than those of today (I suspect most readers will feel the same) - this book forms a sympathetic bridge between the two.Artists (from the past) include Michelangelo, El Greco, William Blake and Peter Paul Rubens.The quality of the production is really good and worth mentioning - nice sized hardback with excellent reproductions and typesetting on high quality paper. It's good to hold and return to.

This was a fascinating read; the works chosen by the artists were often very unlikely at first, but their explanations proved so interesting to read. Obviously, their choices told you as much about the individual artists as the works they had chosen. The only criticism yet again, the postie crammed this book through my letter box, destroying the corners, damaging what was a pristine book, why do they do that?

This book contains brief, concise essays by today's artists on the art of yesteryear. It keeps its focus by getting the artists to concentrate on (usually) one work: the one that knocked them backwards.In the space of two or three well-illustrated pages, the artist explains their reaction to the art and how it influenced them. This focus prevents the book being shallow or just a coffee-table book of lovely pictures, although it's that too. One could argue that we can't see how the writer was influenced, but it would be difficult to show that without doubling the size of the book, since influences can be quite subtle. I'm happy to concentrate on their inner response.We can't help wondering how we are "supposed" to respond to art, even though we know it's a foolish question. Here we get the best answer we'll ever get: we see how other artists responded and were inspired. And it's not just painting: Man Ray and William Blake also get a look-in.Reading a whole book about art can be daunting. This is a perfect book for those who want to dip in, learn something useful and then go away and think.

I read a snippet from this book in a European newspaper and found the whole notion intriguing. The approach is very different from what many of us are familiar with, as it pertains to the analysis, critique, and opinion of art.In this book, we have upwards of 75+ international artists (American, British, German, French, Albanian, Brazilian, Spanish ...) offering commentary on popular artists from the past (Picasso, El Greco, Max Ernst, Victor Hugo, Diego Velazquez, Leonardo da Vinci ...). These observations and commentaries run anywhere from a few sentences ("... Although laid on in blatant, uninflicted areas, it evokes a delicate apprehension of real matter in real space ...") to a full page or two.Most of the contributors begin with a statement or introduction as to how they first became familiar with an artist or a particular piece of work. Some go on to describe a body of work; some write about the artist who produced the piece; and others write of how an artist from the past influenced their own work or perspectives on creativity. Some of the contributors describe this in a matter-of-fact manner, whereas others allow us a peek into their own experience of the work ("... The tingling feeling in my neck disappears and a heat fills my heart and stomach. A roaring feeling of delight surges forward. My eyes discover places in this painting I've never seen before, and as my body returns to a feeling of peace, thousands of new thoughts and feelings are still recognizable, as if I were inside Stalingrad ...").Though a collector of art, I only recognize a name or two of the artists who were chosen to weigh in with their thoughts, observations, and opinions for this book. What the author/artists share ranges from fairly simplistic ("... I had never been a fan of XXX's art before that exhibition ...") to the profound. While some of the artists choose to address one particular piece from a famous painter, others opine on the creator's total body of work. I particularly enjoyed reading from arists who shared their own process of relating to art ("... My grandfather was a psychoanalyst and had the poster at the entrance to his office ... I remember looking at it for hours with a mixture of fear and fascination.").Even though the artists who contributed to this book aren't one's you might have heard about, you will definitely know many of the pieces they render commentary on:* Femme a' Poreiller, Picasso* The Milkmaid, Vermeer* Eleven AM, Hopper* The Garden of Earthly Delights, Bosch* The Temptation of Adam, Masaccio* The Repentant Magdalene, El GrecoOverall, I love the concept of having artists share observations and opinions about popular works. Unless we're reading commentary from a professional 'art critic,' we don't usually have the opportunity to hear the views of others, short of taking them to the museum with us. Since a reproduction of the piece being written about can be seen at the same time, you, the reader, can compare your own thoughts and impressions.At 208 pages, the book is an easy read. In addition to the text, there are photographs of every piece written about. For a few of the artists (Millais, Victor Hugo, Masaccio) there are 2-4 samples of their work.So, all that stated, I give this book 5 Stars. This was a great book and I hope others will expand on the concept. There are so many pieces of art I can think of that I would love to submit for commentary (starting with Las Meninas, moving onto The Scream, and ending with Saturn Eating his Son).

Great idea, poor execution. Most of the essays don't include an image of the artist/author's work, making their reference to their inspirational artist meaningless. The reproductions are random, some essays have 3-4, some only one tiny image. All in all, very disappointing and not recommended.

I find the book interesting , but agree with another reviewer that it needs more illustrations of the art described in the text.

This book is quite simply, fabulous. It allows a highly unusual and extremely effective way to learn about art directly from working artists. The artists chosen are from all over the world, as are the art works each one selects as their "favorite." The essays are a string of pearls, a vintage collection of approaches to art. I love the totally random and eclectic mix of art that emerges for perusal. For me, the book allows a small daily learning ritual: I read a single essay a day, then place the bookmark into the next page without peeking. I may do this for years.