Linda S. (GoneToTheDogs) reviewed on 11/23/2006 + 625 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

Tomkins' five essays are a great place to start if you've ever wondered about the purpose behind the "avant-garde" in art and want a general overview of its origins. The chapter on Jean Tinguely is especially fine: it is hard to resist the story of a man who builds robots designed to continuously paint abstracts, start fires or simply destroy themselves. The book is well written, easy to read and contains a subtle sense of humor.

This is a work on the lives of five important artists (duchamp, cage, tinguely, rauschenberg, and cunningham) of the avant-garde, each working from a different discipline.

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