Power of Art by Simon SchamaA great introduction to looking at paintings, this book is a companion to a BBC tv series (which I haven't seen) but stands on its own as an introduction to monumental works of art by Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, David, Turner, Van Gogh, Picasso and Rothko.
I'd always shied away from Caravaggio but was able to admit to myself my fear of his sheer power and sensuality and to enjoy it. I learned about the beauty of Bernini's sculpture and renewed my acquaintance with Van Gogh's delicious and disturbing viscerality and Picasso's timeless denunciation: Guernica.
My only concern is that Schama does at times appear to equate extremity of personality with extremity of vision, as if you cannot be an amazing painter without having a disturbing personal life, and I don't think this is necessarily correct
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