cover image Writers on Artists

Writers on Artists

Modern Painters Magazine. DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley), $40 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-7894-8035-4

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. (Nov.)