New British Art in the Saatchi Collection

From Library Journal

The Saatchi Collection has become one of London's hottest attractions for the viewing of contemporary art. In many ways, it has also been a trendsetter in the art world, especially the marketplace. Hicks analyzes its recent acquisitions in terms of the dominant forces in British art theory: The School of London and the New British Sculptors. These brief essays then give way to specific sections on 22 painters and sculptors. The reasons for their inclusion are thoroughly explained, and the accompanying illustrations are first-rate. Obvious "new masters," like Lucien Freud, R.B. Kitaj, Malcolm Morley, and Tony Cragg appear here. However, several other rising stars are featured, denoting new influences at work: Paula Rego, Sean Scully, Julian Opie, and Bill Woodrow. This monograph is a clearcut companion in style to the collection's four-volume permanent catalog. Its artists and appraisal of contemporary British art will serve the needs of art school and specialized art library collections.

- Paula A. Baxter, NYPL

Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product description

The Saatchi Collection is unique. Perhaps best known for its American and European Art, in recent years it has expanded to focus on the extraordinarily creative works of art produced by British, and British-based, artists, and now offers a kaleidoscopic view of recent British painting and sculpture. Contemporary British painting, though it has been strong in the UK for some thirty years, is now beginning to take its place on the world stage. The influence of new British sculptors is even more widely felt, yet the literature on them has hitherto been sparse. This is the first book to celebrate these twin British successes. With over 200 colour reproductions "New British Art" offers students and collectors, as well as a much wider audience, an unrivaled opportunity to examine in depth the achievement of more than twenty of the most significant artists of our time.

From Publishers Weekly

This book highlights 22 British and British-based painters and sculptors, each a formidable talent, whose works are among the vast holdings of advertising mogul Charles Saatchi. The School of London painters represented here encompass a broad range of styles and subjects, from Frank Auerbach's heavily impastoed urban landscapes to Lucian Freud's disturbingly psychosexual nudes to Lisa Milroy's rhythmic repetitions of quotidian objects. A more unified aesthetic informs the work of the New London Sculptors, who all make extensive use of industrial materials. Tony Cragg's plastic lids, containers and other disposables compose a kind of mosaic that comments wryly on consumer society. Richard Deacon's steel and wood structures are unglamorous yet beguilingly sensual explorations of negative space. British art critic Hicks's brief but helpful text profiles each artist, discussing their general viewpoints and the specific works reproduced in more than 200 color illustrations. Overall, this is a satisfying introduction to contemporary British art.

Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.