The Art of Rivalry

'Vivid and exuberant writing about art...[Smee brings] great works to life with love and appreciation.' Pulitzer citation 'Smee takes readers deep into the beginnings of modern art in a way that not only enlightens, but also builds a stronger appreciation of the influences that created the environment that fostered its development.' Kirkus 'This is magnificent book on the relationships at the roots of artistic genius. Smee offers a gripping tale of the fine line between friendship and competition, tracing how the ties that torment us most are often the ones that inspire us most.' -- Adam Grant, author of Originals and Give and Take 'The keynotes of Sebastian Smee's criticism have always included a fine feeling for the what of art-he knows how to evoke the way pictures really strike the eye-and an equal sense of the how of art: how art emerges from the background of social history. To these he now adds a remarkable capacity for getting down the who of art-the enigma of artists' personalities, and the way that, two at a time, they can often intersect to reshape each in the other's image. With these gifts all on the page together, The Art of Rivalry gives us a remarkable and engrossing book on pretty much the whole of art.' Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon and The Table Comes First 'Modern art's major pairs of frenemies are a subject so fascinating, it's strange to have a book on it only now-and a stroke of luck, for us, that the author is Sebastian Smee. He brings the perfect combination of artistic taste and human understanding, and a prose style as clear as spring water, to the drama and occasional comedy of men who inspired and annoyed one another to otherwise inexplicable heights of greatness.' Peter Schjeldahl, art critic of the New Yorker 'Beautifully written...Illuminating...This ambitious and impressive work is an utterly absorbing read.' STARRED Review, Publishers Weekly 'Smee's double portraits are deeply moving, even haunting in their investigations of artistic and emotional symbioses of incalculable intricacy and consequence.' STARRED Review, Booklist 'Mr. Smee's skills as a critic are evident throughout. He is persuasive and vivid about the art itself...He's also knowledgeable enough to add, for instance, a parenthetical note on how shifting social conditions in France helped lead to the advent of the detective novel...You leave this book both nourished and hungry for more about the art, its creators and patrons, and the relationships that seed the ground for moments spent at the canvas.' New York Times 'The art critic for The Boston Globe had the inspired idea of exploring four fraught friendships that helped fuel eight great painters' very modern yearning to be unique, original, inimitable . His brilliant group biography is one of a kind.' Atlantic 'Poised and insightful.' Australian 'Absorbing, informed and provocative, Sebastian Smee's The Art of Rivalry takes us to heart of each of these relationships. It offers revelatory insights into the ways in which these major artists influenced and changed each other' Australian Arts Review 'Smee carefully draws comparisons between particular paintings and periods. He has a wonderful knack of making his prose both knowledgeable and accessible (not too dissimilar from Australia's earlier expatriate art critic, the late, great Robert Hughes), so that although art history is the foundation of this book, its psychological insights into male friendship, ambition, ego and vulnerability make it a book as rich as a multi-layered cake.' Sydney Morning Herald 'A tantalizing exploration of the role of passion in art...The tales are well known, but Smee extracts new insights from them, combining sophisticated criticism with psychological acumen.' New Yorker