This anthology is not a history of art, nor a history of art criticism – although art historians and art critics have been included, providing they are or were capable of producing readable prose. In total, the collection gives insight into the many diverse ways in which the visual arts can be seen and thought about.
The Penguin Book of Art Writing has been compiled by Karen Wright, editor of the magazine Modern Painters, and Martin Gayford, a Modern Painters contributor and prominent literary critic. Their aim has been to bring together the most lively and readable writing on art, from Pliny the Elder to Julian Barnes, Benvenuto Cellini to Updike, with Delacroix, Damien Hirst, Henry James, Baudelaire, Andy Warhol, Michelangelo, Marcel Proust, Vincent Van Gogh, and many more incorporated en route. First Edition, pp. xvii, 620 Light tanning to pages. #0219