Publisher's Synopsis
In this age of photography, video and installation art, there are those who decry the emphatic persistence of figurative painting. What can the painted image express that other more 'modern' media cannot? Martin Gayford's authoritative text seeks to answer this and other fundamental questions by examining the wealth of approaches currently employed by British artists painting the human figure. His comprehensive survey ranges from the elder statesmen of the genre such as Craigie Aitchison, Lucian Freud, David Hockney, Frank Auerbach and John Bellany through to rising stars like Alison Watt, Jenny Saville, Ishbel Myerscough and Tai-Shan Schierenberg.;EXERPT:;"The strange persistence of figurative art - not just in Britain, but especially strong here - requires an explanation. It is simply a post mortem effect, a folkloric continuance of old technology after its primary function has gone? Do people continue to paint pictures with paint and brush rather as a few crafty eccentrics carry on with the spinning-wheel, the handloom, and the scythe?"
