Martin Gayford

Join us for an insightful and educating evening with Martin Gayford as he discusses his newest book: How Painting Happens (and why it matters). If you were lucky enough to hear from Martin when he came to speak to us about Venice last year, you will know how much knowledge and love he has for art and its history. We are extremely pleased to welcome him back to the bookshop this winter, and hope to see you there!

Painting is an almost inconceivably ancient activity that remains vigorously alive in the twenty-first century. Every successful painting creates a new world, which we inhabit for as long as we care to look at it. Paintings can incorporate profound ideas and paradoxes that can be grasped without words. For those who dedicate themselves to it, the art of painting can become an all-consuming, lifelong obsession.

Martin Gayford's riveting and richly illustrated book deftly brings together numerous artists' voices, past and present. It draws on a trove of conversations conducted over more than three decades with artists including Frank Auerbach, Gillian Ayres, Cecily Brown, Peter Doig, and, Katharina Fritsch. Here too is Vincent van Gogh on Rembrandt, Francis Bacon on Velazquez, and Jean-Michel Basquiat on Picasso.

We hear the personal reflections of these artists on their chosen medium; how and why they paint; how they came to the practice; the influence of fellow painters; and how they find creative sustenance and inspiration in their art.

How Painting Happens crosses the centuries to give us a wealth of insights into the endlessly compelling phenomenon of painters and painting.