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Artemisia
Artemisia
Dec 25, 2024 8:07 AM

Author:Alexandra Lapierre

Artemisia

Artemisia Gentileschi is one of the most fascinating artists in history. Apprenticed at an early age to her father, the seventeenth-century painter Orazio Gentileschi, she rapidly became more famous than he was, for her rich, dramatic canvases. But her fame was tarnished by scandal. At the age of seventeen, she was violently raped by Agostino Tassi, an artist friend of Orazio's. On discovering Tassi's betrayal, Orazio took the case to court and there followed, in 1612, eight months of humiliation for Artemisia as the inhabitants of Rome's colourful artist's quarter came to give evidence. Their testimony - frank, partial, often cruel - in this first rape trial ever to be fully documented, made Artemisia and her father notorious.

Reviews

I wouldn't ordinarily enthuse about one book at such length, but this is an important work...not because it's an entertaining read (it is), but because it identifies the birth of a brand...and records the birth of a new idea - the transport interchange.

—— Kevin McCloud , Grand Designs Magazine

Mark Ovenden has devotedly documented the designs associated with [the Underground] ... "addictive" for anyone interested in the look of everyday life.

—— Telegraph

A wonderful, handsome book ... it makes me want to nerd out, get a travel card and whiz out to the strange ends of Metroland or the UFO shape of Southgate station.

—— Robert Bownes/Andrew Tuck , Monocle Weekly

This beautifully illustrated history is a worthy tribute [to 150 years of design].

—— Shortlist

[Praise for Great Railway Maps of the World]: Just the ticket ... it is a glorious celebration of the pioneering history - and romance - of the railways

—— Sunday Times Travel Books of the Year 2011

This is a terrific coffee table book. It's a work of art in itself. Mark Ovenden has created a book that will transport the lucky recipient on an eccentric and world tour they will not forget

—— Bookseller

Hicks' enchantment with the tapestry is compelling and her style confident and writerly

—— Daily Telegraph

A beguiling study

—— Financial Times

Engaging

—— Gillian Tindal , Literary Review

This beautifully written book is a splendid testament to the intelligence, attention to detail, depth of research, and down to earth vision of a first rate scholar

—— Theodore K Rabb , Times Literary Supplement

There are still interesting things to be said about Van Eyck's great double portrait

—— Michael Glover , Independent, Books of the Year

Exploring the double-portrait image in often revelatory detail, Hicks presents a truly inspiring picture of her own

—— Erica Wagner , The Times, Books of the Year

No-one can write, and explain, like Hicks. Here her mastery is complete

—— Spectator

This impressive work of art historical scholarship is in every way as engaging as its subject

—— Peter Murray , Irish Examiner

A rattlingly readable effort... Greig does a fine job revealing tales one suspects the artist may have wished to keep private.

—— Alastair Smart , Telegraph

Anybody with an ear for a good story, never mind an eye for fine art, will be beguiled.

—— Hephzibah Anderson , Mail on Sunday

Greig's fascinating, intimate biography of Lucian Freud was a revelation. Every question I had about Freud – from the aesthetic to the intrusively gossipy – was answered with great candour and judiciousness… Wry, dry and completely beguiling.

—— William Boyd , Guardian

[Greig’s] perceptive observations and eagle’s eye for detail immediately drew me in.

—— Rebecca Wallersteiner , Vantage

The Freud who emerges in this account is a slippery figure, not only for journalists who tried to explain him but also for his intimates.

—— New Yorker

Mr Greig's is a compelling portrait of a complete amoralist who became a monstre sacré.

—— The Economist

Greig’s portrait glimmers with his eye for the telling detail.

—— Robert Collins , Sunday Times

A mesmerising book, seamlessly crafted, totally absorbing, and impossible to put down.

—— The Tablet

A very readable and enjoyable book, full of salacious detail of the artist and his fascinating life.

—— Julia Weiner , Jewish Chronicle

This intimate biography of Lucian Freud spares no blushes in its account of one of Britain's greatest painters, tracing his life and work through candid revelations about his views on art, relationships and family.

—— Charlotte Mullins , Art Quarterly

Building up brush stroke by brush stroke, Greig has produced a three-dimensional study of equal candour. Part demon, part genius, it is an absorbing portrait of the complexity of a strange human character.

—— Peter Lewis , Daily Mail

An unapologetic mixture of intelligent perception and high gossip... It is, overall, more revealing than anything about [Freud] yet written.

—— Frances Spalding , Guardian

I am captivated by this fascinating memoir... It's an extraordinary read.

—— Barbara Taylor Bradford , Daily Mail

Candid and intelligent.

—— Spear's

A gripping, page-turning vision of Lucian Freud that penetrates deep into the artist's private life.

—— Sunday Times Online

Utterly engrossing and lavishly illustrated

—— Mail on Sunday
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