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Selected Writings on Art and Literature
Selected Writings on Art and Literature
Oct 3, 2024 5:34 PM

Author:Charles-Pierre Baudelaire,P. E. Charvet,P. E. Charvet

Selected Writings on Art and Literature

Before publishing the sensuous and scandalous poems of Les Fleurs du Mal, Charles Baudelaire (1821-67) had already earned respect as a forthright and witty critic of art and literature. This stimulating selection of criticism reveals him as a worshipper at the altar of beauty, illuminating his belief that the pursuit of this ideal must be paramount in artistic expression. Reviews of exhibitions discuss works by great painters such as Delacroix and Ingres in fascinating detail, and 'Of Virtuous Plays and Novels' sees Baudelaire as an avenging angel in defence of true art. Writings on Poe, Flaubert and Gautier evoke a profound understanding of fellow artists, while his single excursion into musical criticism, 'Richard Wagner and Tannhäuser in Paris', displays an incisive awareness of the magical power of suggestion in music.

Reviews

The perfect condensed account of Ruskin's life.

—— Alain de Botton , Daily Telegraph

Altogether an inspiring volume, filled with scholarship and love.

—— Peter Ackroyd , The Times

Lucid, timely and important.

—— Chris Woodhead , Mail on Sunday

Excellent new biographical study ... attractively written and well argued, it finds room for a good deal of picturesque detail.

—— John Gross , Sunday Times

A wonderful diary...the author has used to paint a portrait of an age and a woman... critical and touching.

—— Contemporary Review

Its appeal comes from its intimacy.

—— David Robinson , Scotsman

In this frank memoir, the British journalist Georgie Greig recounts his regular meetings with Freud.

—— Apollo

Startlingly frank.

—— Nick Curtis , Evening Standard

Both tender biography and blunt revelation. In that it is the first to reveal the man and the essential symbiosis of heterosexual obsession…with the messy business of painting, it is the most important book yet written on Freud.

—— Brian Sewell , Evening Standard

A riveting anecdotal portrait… Everywhere there are fascinating nuggets… A fond, fair-minded, thankfully non-judgmental and pretty full portrait of a person shaped around the people – and most saliently the lovers – who came into his life.

—— Rachel Campbell-Johnston , The Times

Greig has penetrated deep into the labyrinth of Freud’s private life. The result is a gripping page-turner about an endlessly fascinating and extraordinary man.

—— Lynn Barber , Sunday Times

Compelling and fascinating… It is a book fill of clues – generous with routes to an understanding of this massively difficult and hugely gifted individual.

—— William Boyd , Mail on Sunday

[It] will be on many an art lover's Christmas list this year.

—— Mary Lussiana , Country & Town House

Fond and faintly disturbing.

—— Nicky Haslam , Spectator

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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