Recent Reading: The Art of Rivalry

 

I enjoyed Smee’s look at the relationships between Matisse and Picasso, between Manet and Degas, between Pollock and de Kooning, and between Freud and Bacon. One of the remarkable things about the book is that it is worth your time if you know quite a lot about the artists, but, at least in my opinion, the book would also serve as a great introduction to modern art for people who know very little about it.