Georges Braque

As art critic for The New Republic, Jed Perl is renowned for combining a passion for art and a skepticism about the current art establishment with an ability to write about art in the context of our larger culture. In this collection of essays, including two written especially for this book, he delivers a brilliant mixture of first-rate art criticism and politically informed insight into the true workings of the American art world.

Perl offers incisive analysis into the marketing mentality that dominates today's museums, the poverty of academic criticism, and the changing expectations of the gallery-going public. He re-evaluates the old masters, and turns an avid, unprejudiced eye on the works of his contemporaries. He laments the collapse of a gallery culture that once allowed artists to develop slowly, and argues for a radical reassessment of the way art is presented to -- and is viewed by -- the public.

From Renoir and Picasso to Red Grooms and Guerrilla Girls, this is the most useful reference work on twentieth-century art available in a one volume. Compiled by Ian Chilvers, the editor of The Oxford Dictionary of Art, it is both authoritative and accessible, with generous use of anecdote and clear explanations of many potentially confusing terms. Providing broad coverage of painting, sculpture, drawing, and the applied arts, the dictionary has major entries on the important movements and styles of the twentieth century, including Dada, Cubism, Surrealism, Art Deco, Abstract Expressionism, Pop art, Body and Performance art, and Neo Expressionism. In addition there are entries on art schools and galleries, exhibitions and prizes, terms and techniques. The biographies feature not only artists but also collectors, critics, dealers, and patrons. And though the dictionary concentrates on the great names, it is not confined to the mainstream of modern art, featuring many artists working in a more popular tradition as well as interesting peripheral figures (such as the forger Elmyr de Hory). This up to date and informative guide is an essential reference for anyone interested in modern art.

The most important scientist of the twentieth century and the most important artist had their periods of greatest creativity almost simultaneously and in remarkably similar circumstances.

This fascinating parallel biography of Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso as young men examines their greatest creations -- Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and Einstein's special theory of relativity. Miller shows how these breakthroughs arose not only from within their respective fields but from larger currents in the intellectual culture of the times. Ultimately, Miller shows how Einstein and Picasso, in a deep and important sense, were both working on the same problem.