LONDON.- In My View is a collection of reflections by 78 living artists in which each artist reveals the influence and inspiration he or she has found in a particular artwork or artist. The works chosen, each one illustrated, range from the fifteenth to the mid-twentieth century, some of them iconic, others lesser known. The accompanying accounts are often very personal, recalling childhood memories and life-changing moments, and capture the excitement and illumination that come from encounters with great art.

The artists discussing their favourite works of art include: Frank Auerbach on Henri Matisse • Miroslaw Balka on Michelangelo • Vija Celmins on Philip Guston • George Condo on Rembrandt • Michael Craig-Martin on Marcel Duchamp • Gregory Crewdson on Edward Hopper • Thomas Demand on Paolo Uccello • Dr Lakra on Hieronymus Bosch • Marlene Dumas on Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres • Elmgreen & Dragnet on Vilhelm Hammershøi • Antony Gormley on Jacob Epstein • Thomas Hirschhorn on Andy Warhol • Candida Höfer on Ludwig Mies van der Rohe • Ilya Kabakov on Kazimir Malevich • Annette Messager on William Blake • Beatriz Milhazes on Hans Memling • Vik Muniz on Peter Paul Rubens • Jorge Pardo on Gustave Courbet • Cornelia Parker on Man Ray • Ed Ruscha on John Everett Millais • Hiroshi Sugimoto on Petrus Christus • Do Ho Suh on Kim Jeong-hui • Bill Viola on Giovanni Bellini • Mark Wallinger on Diego Velázquez • Franz West on Caravaggio • Rachel Whiteread on Pierro della Francesca • Zhang Huan on Leonardo da Vinci

The artists’ texts, many also illustrated with their own work, show the profound connections that exist between artists past and present and offer an alternative look at art history, through the eyes of contemporary artists themselves. Simon Grant’s illuminating introduction identifies themes that emerge and contextualizes the history and practice of artists looking back at the work of others.

Author
Simon Grant is a writer and art historian, and has been editor of Tate Etc. magazine since 2004. His writings on art include catalogue essays on Paul Nash, Keith Tyson and Tacita Dean, and articles for various magazines and newspapers. Grant is also co-founder and co-editor of Picpus, a quarterly art journal launched in 2010.