Modernists & Mavericks: Bacon, Freud, Hockney & the London Painters - Rilegato

Gayford's entertainingly seamless insights made outsiders feel like insiders--Prospect

An exceptionally lively, emotional, affectionate and compelling account of painters in the London village in the post-war period--Marina Vaizey, The Tablet

Martin Gayford's book brings this vibrant period in UK art history to life for 21st century readers--Art Society Magazine

Wise and generous--Julian Barnes, Guardian Summer Reads

Compelling...highly recommended...vivid--Irish Arts Review

This encyclopedic study of Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Frank Auerbach and the greatest generation of British visual artists since Turner's time is informed by a deep love and understanding of modern painting--Sunday Times

An impressive conspectus of the post-war British art world-- Country Life

The real triumph of the book is the survival of the medium of paint itself ... it is a survival story, one of victory, and also one of legacy--Elephant

Superb ... Gayford deploys Bacon s voice to brilliant effect, and you hang on to every word--Rachel Cooke, Observer

[A] wonderful overview ... a book rich in both anecdotes and aperçus- New Statesman

An important, authoritative work of art criticism that recognises schools of painters, yet displays the superior distinctions of individual geniuses- Spectator

If there were anyone qualified to write about these masters and many others, if it Gayford, who draws on 30 years of interviews-- Artinfo.com

If you are interested in modern British art, the book is unputdownable. If you are not, read it. You soon will be-- Financial Times

Gayford recounts the artists lives and their travails with sympathy and understanding ... wonderfully accomplished book-- The Times

[Gayford] has a gift for sustaining conversations that unfold across decades-- The Guardian

Admirable and extremely readable...It gives as a whole a sense of the inter-relatedness of the London art world, its smallness, and how some of the great figures, including Freud and Hodgkin, took so long to be recognized--Charles Saumarez Smith's Blog

Engaging--Apollo

To imagine that he is an amanuensis to the London painters scarcely does him justice. He is more like their Vasari...It's a mark of the author's own talent that he has managed to herd such diverse and often unbiddable figures into a satisfying and insightful group portrait--Evening Standard

Well-researched... a fascinating look at postwar London artists, filled with entertaining figures.

Gayford is clearly an astute questioner and good listener, getting artists to talk engagingly about their careers and creative preoccupations --Daily Telegraph/ Saturday Review

Gayford s achievement is to give us a more or less coherent narrative, which embraces a vast range of painters and sculptors (his reach and his empathy are remarkable) and that absolutely avoids the hideous gobbledegook of art-speak, while never losing sight of the seriousness of his subject...All the good stories, and more, are here...This is a genuinely encyclopaedic work, unlike anything else I have come across on the topic, informed by a deep love and understanding of modern painting. Everybody interested in the subject should read it --Andrew Marr, The Sunday Times

A compelling tale that's sure to fascinate art lovers--Artists & Illustrators

Remarkably thorough and authoritative...comprehensively illustrated, this should be set fair to be the definitive history as well as an appreciation of its period--Artbookreview

Intimate...the book is a joyful, human read -- The Arts Desk

The artists were, if anything, even more colourful than the paintings ... Gayford lucidly and entertainingly lays out their characters and how they investigated what could be done with paint --Sunday Times Art Book of the Year

A vividly engaging portrait of the postwar British scene, filled with revealing observations from the artists own mouths --Observer Review - Art Books of the Year

The artists were, if anything, even more colourful than the paintings, and Gayford lucidly and entertainingly lays out their characters and how they investigated what could be done with paint --Sunday Times Art Book of the Year

Martin Gayford is art critic for The Spectator. His books include Man with a Blue Scarf, A Bigger Message, and Rendez-vouz with Art (with Philippe de Montebello).