Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Alex Danchev, who died as he was finishing this biography, was the author of Georges Braque and Cezanne: A Life, as well as a new translation of The Letters of Paul Cezanne. He was a professor of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, where his archive resides. Sarah Whitfield is an art historian. She is the coeditor of René Magritte: Catalogue Raisonné, and she serves on the René Magritte authentication committee.
Diligent and insightful ... Danchev proved an indefatigable researcher, and Sarah Whitfield does full justice to his labours
- Tim Adams, Observer
A virtuosic portrait of a star surrealist ... surely the definitive full-length biography ... immaculately researched, deeply felt
- Kathryn Hughes, Guardian
The first significant biography of the artist
- Michael Prodger, 'Best art books of 2021', The Times
Insightful and broad-reaching
- Alexander C. Kafka, Washington Post
Offers enthralling insight into the man behind the easel
- Susan Swarbrick and Teddy Jamieson, 'The 50 best books to give this Christmas', Herald
Absorbing, masterful ... there are no lapses in this lively biography ... Magritte: A Life recounts the artist's life in a sympathetic and comprehensive manner, never reducing the mystery of one of the most influential of modern artists
- Alexander Adams, Art Newspaper
[A] monumental biography of the inimitable surrealist artist ... sure to be the definitive account of the extraordinary artist's life
Publishers Weekly
This is a fine book, and Whitfield's tenth chapter, covering the last twenty years of its subject's life, does Danchev's efforts full justice ... for those who love Magritte and those who do not, Danchev's biography will come as a revelation
- Charles Darwent, Literary Review
Exemplary ... a scintillating read
- Alastair Sooke, Daily Telegraph
Danchev's picture of [Magritte] is pointillist and enormous in scope. It is full of shock, for the casual Magritte fan who knows little about his life ... Biographies usually attribute weight to moments or eras in a person's life, building a narrative which will "explain" the artworks, but this one attempts no such thing ... Magritte: A Life paints scenes, all taken from life, but not forced into the realist mode which can constrain works of this type.
- Jo Livingstone, The New Republic
A fascinating portrait
- Christopher Turner, Apollo
Magritte could hardly be in safer hands
- Florence Hallett, inews
Praise for Alex Danchev's Cézanne:
Danchev's Cézanne has... virtues of imaginative sympathy, independence of mind, and wide scholarship. He writes as if Cézanne's life and character are as immediately present before him as is the art.
- Julian Barnes, Times Literary Supplement
A brave new life of Cézanne ... much of this new material successfully illuminates Cézanne's inner life. An important book.
Sunday Times
This is the best account of [Cézanne's] astonishing career and Danchev responds to the challenge with great sensitivity and genuine brio. This is a book which will survive the test of time.
- John Golding CBE, Emeritus Professor of the Royal Academy,
The most engrossing biography of an artist that I have read for years. With lightness of touch, depth of thought, a vast cultural hinterland and an assured understanding of painting, Danchev marvellously brings to life Cézanne the man, as well as the pioneering artist called "the father of us all" by Picasso.
- Jackie Wullschlager, FT
Diligent and insightful ... Danchev proved an indefatigable researcher, and Sarah Whitfield does full justice to his labours
- Tim Adams, Observer
A virtuosic portrait of a star surrealist ... surely the definitive full-length biography ... immaculately researched, deeply felt
- Kathryn Hughes, Guardian
The first significant biography of the artist
- Michael Prodger, 'Best art books of 2021', The Times
Insightful and broad-reaching
- Alexander C. Kafka, Washington Post
Offers enthralling insight into the man behind the easel
- Susan Swarbrick and Teddy Jamieson, 'The 50 best books to give this Christmas', Herald
Absorbing, masterful ... there are no lapses in this lively biography ... Magritte: A Life recounts the artist's life in a sympathetic and comprehensive manner, never reducing the mystery of one of the most influential of modern artists
- Alexander Adams, Art Newspaper
[A] monumental biography of the inimitable surrealist artist ... sure to be the definitive account of the extraordinary artist's life
Publishers Weekly
This is a fine book, and Whitfield's tenth chapter, covering the last twenty years of its subject's life, does Danchev's efforts full justice ... for those who love Magritte and those who do not, Danchev's biography will come as a revelation
- Charles Darwent, Literary Review
Exemplary ... a scintillating read
- Alastair Sooke, Daily Telegraph
Danchev's picture of [Magritte] is pointillist and enormous in scope. It is full of shock, for the casual Magritte fan who knows little about his life ... Biographies usually attribute weight to moments or eras in a person's life, building a narrative which will "explain" the artworks, but this one attempts no such thing ... Magritte: A Life paints scenes, all taken from life, but not forced into the realist mode which can constrain works of this type.
- Jo Livingstone, The New Republic
A fascinating portrait
- Christopher Turner, Apollo
Magritte could hardly be in safer hands
- Florence Hallett, inews
Praise for Alex Danchev's Cézanne:
Danchev's Cézanne has... virtues of imaginative sympathy, independence of mind, and wide scholarship. He writes as if Cézanne's life and character are as immediately present before him as is the art.
- Julian Barnes, Times Literary Supplement
A brave new life of Cézanne ... much of this new material successfully illuminates Cézanne's inner life. An important book.
Sunday Times
This is the best account of [Cézanne's] astonishing career and Danchev responds to the challenge with great sensitivity and genuine brio. This is a book which will survive the test of time.
- John Golding CBE, Emeritus Professor of the Royal Academy,
The most engrossing biography of an artist that I have read for years. With lightness of touch, depth of thought, a vast cultural hinterland and an assured understanding of painting, Danchev marvellously brings to life Cézanne the man, as well as the pioneering artist called "the father of us all" by Picasso.
- Jackie Wullschlager, FT