The Phaidon Companion to Art and Artists in the British Isles

Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1980. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good -. 319 pages, indexed, black and white plates. A nice copy, clean, unmarked and solid. "The Phaidon Companion To Art And Artists" is an illustrated guide to the places in Great Britain and Ireland with which artists have been associated. Under each place-name the authors give an account of the artist or artists connected with that place, either through having lived there in childhood, or through having chosen to settle there, or because the place has been a source of inspiration for their work. The book opens with a general discussion of the relationship between artists and places; then follow the separate entries, which are grouped into nine regions, each introduced by a short essay on the artistic associations of the region as a hole. The works illustrated are not exclusively landscapes, but may simply feature local people, have a local setting, or be inspired by the special atmosphere of the place in question. A list is provided of the principal galleries and houses where works by artists mentioned in the text may be seen, and there are maps to show the regional divisions, the location of each entry, and areas of special interest. A bibliography and indexes of artists and places are included.