By Caprice Hogg
The title of this book piqued my interest as I hoped to read in-depth insights into how artists think despite poor life choices by said artists.
Upon my initial read, I felt it was more of an art history book for beginners. It was an easy and entertaining read with only one or two paragraphs next to each work of art. As the book progressed, I found large gaps in information. The book begins with a sculpture from 25 000 B.C, and then we jump to Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1333 B.C. He briefly touches on art throughout the ages, but the large jumps bypassing entire centuries is disturbing.
De Wilt features several works of art through the Renaissance with well-known artists such as Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Titian. He attempts to not only feature the famous artists but also a small cross-section of lesser-known artists from other countries such as Pieter Jansz from Holland. In actuality, this does the book a disservice as the world of art is simply too large to be undertaken in a book with only 591 small pages. The 18th century is skipped over with only one work of art for the entire century. He goes into impressionism, post-impressionism and almost the entire second half of the book is on post-expressionism and abstract art. It is weighted heavily in certain art movements.
The author refers to this as “an illustrated book on life lessons in art.” Yet, I feel no further enlightened towards what the artists thought on life lessons. Rather than quoting from great artists like Picasso or Dali, DeWilt quotes Steve Jobs instead. There was not only one quote from Jobs but two! I also fail to understand how De Wilt knew what the artist was thinking in 25 000 B.C.?
Another information gap is that the author sometimes wrote a description about the painting being shown, and at other times, he wrote a description of the artist’s life without any information about the painting itself. I was disappointed when, next to Van Gogh’s Cafe Terrace at Night, he did not describe why Vincent had painted a yellow horse walking down the street or anything about the cafe or the patrons. The writing was a brief description of VanGogh’s life featuring well-known details that did not give me any further insight into the art or life of VanGogh.
Another discrepancy in the book is that sometimes a photo of the artist is featured rather than the actual work of the artist. Perhaps this is a copyright issue? Whatever the reason, I would like the art to be more consistent throughout.
I would not recommend this book as it falls short of its premise of giving readers a true picture of what artists truly think, nor does it give an accurate history of art.
Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with a copy to review.