"a major addition to the literature of art criticism and philosophy"
Library Journal
Just as Picasso’s Guernica and Van Gogh's Starry Night survive as powerful cultural documents of their time, there will be works from our own era that will endure for generations to come. But which ones? Which contemporary artworks best capture the spirit of the late 20th and early 21st centuries? Which artists and artworks from the past two decades will come to define our age through their power to question, provoke and inspire? Accessible and incisive texts offer a biography of each piece, tracing its inception and impact, and showing how it provides a unique keyhole not only into the imagination of the artist who created it but also into the age in which we live.
Reviews:
"a marvelous combination of aesthetic sensibility, poetic imagery, and charming wit … This title is a major addition to the literature of art criticism and philosophy”
—Paula Frosch, Library Journal, Metropolitan Museum of Art Library, New York
"an unimpeachably on-trend look at contemporary art"; "an intelligent selection that doesn't set out to be prescriptive (even if it must, by definition, be definitive)"; "Grovier's whiskers seem pretty accurately cocked to me”
—Keith Miller, TLS cover story
Best Books of the Year
—The Independent newspaper
Best Books of the Year
—The Daily Telegraph
30 Best Art Books of the Year
—The Huffington Post
"Thumbing through this book is like looking at a who’s who of the art world. Every page is turned with a bang ..."; "this book succeeds in its endeavour.”
—Shirley Stevenson, Aesthetica Magazine
"In this impressive volume of 100 influential works produced since 1989 … Grovier provides an ambitious and convincing survey of contemporary art that hovers delightfully between criticism, history, and an art lover’s poetic tribute.”
—Publishers Weekly
"[Grovier has] glimpsed the possibility for elegance, intelligence, and surprise … and followed through"; "as hostages to fortunes go, 100 WORKS feels pretty secure.”
—Martin Herbert, Art Quarterly
"the book that generated most debate this year”
—The Daily Telegraph's "Best Art Books of the Year"
"boldly going where few other art books have gone before”
—The Huffington Post
"a beautifully illustrated appraisal of art from 1989 to 2012 that invites reflection on some of the best-known contemporary artists as well as offering some less publicly celebrated works.”
—The Wall Street Journal
"Grovier's commentaries are replete with illuminating and surprising references"; "an unusual, provocative and curiously satisfying guide through the labyrinth of contemporary art"; "magnificent, mind- and eye-opening”
—Marina Vaizey, The Tablet
"this is a great introduction for anyone keen to get to grips with the headline-grabbers of the past two decades.”
—Time Out, "This Season's Best Art Books"