I am not familiar with Julian Barnes but these writings won me over quickly. The opening chapters on Gericault, Delacroix, Courbet, Manet, Fantin-Latour, Cezanne, Degas, Redon, Bonnard and Vuillard, are a fantastic overview of French painting and will make one long to return to Paris museums. Reading a chapter each evening is enjoyable (and no writer could fail retelling the well-known story of the Medusa disaster which inspired Gericault, but it is a captivating start and introduces us well to Barnes' unique approach to understanding French painting).

But what a disappointment, as my evening reading moved on to Magritte, Oldenburg, and other later artists, and his final fawning on the over-rated paintings of Hodgkin (a close friend of Barnes). I held out hope, but once Barnes' leaves the French modern masters, his vision was less insightful, and the pace and my interest lags.

I recognize this is a selected collection of Barnes' previous essays, so maybe I should blame the editors for my disappointments here. Much better to have settled on a shorter, more focused collection. (Personally, I found the artworks illustrated fully adequate to Barnes' discussion). ( )

I was so disappointed. I found it hard to concentrate. Many of the paintings he talked about were not illustrated. Sigh! I found it time consuming to find the paintings. ( )

This book is an absolute joy!

Julian Barnes teaches by example how to appreciate art far beyond the confines of aesthetics or academic rigour. His studies of the artists reveal much about the art he discusses and illustrates the context in which these pieces were created. While this approach is not unorthodox for art historians, it is a lovely read for those not in the discipline and who want to better develop their analytical and appreciate eye for the art that surrounds. ( )

The pleasure of reading Julian Barnes has become greater and greater as I've come to appreciate not only his perceptiveness but how he uses words to express his experiences. Revisiting such artwork as 'Medusa' all this time later, finding even more to it that amazes and delights is revelation that expands in the way that arguably both the visual arts and the art of writing does at its best. The metaphor settled on me gently, that writing fiction is a comparable process. Barnes outlines the choices the artist could have made but wisely avoided and that in so doing made the piece stronger. It was amusing to see Barnes later attack the Gods of contemporary art such as Koons, but understandable given his premise about what lasts and what makes one feel educated by art. Thought provoking and rewarding read. ( )

A selection of essays that Julian Barnes has written over the years, mostly on French painters. Engagingly written and introduced me to new artists, and cured me of overfamiliarity of others. The UK edition at least is handsomely produced on quality paper with good reproductions, though I would certainly have liked to see more of the pictures the text refers to. ( )