Book Review: Wait, Do Nothing, and Lay off the Nudes ; the Penguin Book of Art Writing Edited by Martin Gayford and Karen Wright Penguin Pounds 12.99

What is art writing, ask the editors of this 600-page anthology of art writing. It comprises "histories, theories, anecdotes, epigrams, how-to-do-it manuals, recorded conversations, fictions and poems". Which explains the inclusion of an imperious Margaret Thatcher ("See, see, see, learn, learn, learn"), and the reflections of a certain Mughal Emperor Jahangir on a dying courtier's ghastly face. Gayford and Wright, professional art critics themselves, follow Baudelaire's maxim that "the best criticism is the criticism that is entertaining and poetic ... since a fine painting is nature reflected by an artist, the best critical study, I repeat, will be the one that is that …

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Publication information: Article title: Book Review: Wait, Do Nothing, and Lay off the Nudes ; the Penguin Book of Art Writing Edited by Martin Gayford and Karen Wright Penguin Pounds 12.99. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: The Independent (London, England). Publication date: November 21, 1999. Page number: 13. © 2009 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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