Listen free for 30 days

  • The Art of Rivalry

  • Four Friendships, Betrayals, and Breakthroughs in Modern Art
  • Written by: Sebastian Smee
  • Narrated by: Bob Souer
  • Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Art of Rivalry cover art

The Art of Rivalry

Written by: Sebastian Smee
Narrated by: Bob Souer
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $20.04

Buy Now for $20.04

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

Rivalry is at the heart of some of the most famous and fruitful relationships in history. The Art of Rivalry follows eight celebrated artists, each linked to a counterpart by friendship, admiration, envy, and ambition. All eight are household names today. But to achieve what they did, each needed the influence of a contemporary - one who was equally ambitious but who possessed sharply contrasting strengths and weaknesses. Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas were close associates whose personal bond frayed after Degas painted a portrait of Manet and his wife. Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso swapped paintings, ideas, and influences as they jostled for the support of collectors like Leo and Gertrude Stein and vied for the leadership of a new avant-garde. Jackson Pollock's uninhibited style of "action painting" triggered a breakthrough in the work of his older rival, Willem de Kooning. Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon met in the early 1950s, when Bacon was being hailed as Britain's most exciting new painter and Freud was working in relative obscurity. Their intense but asymmetrical friendship came to a head when Freud painted a portrait of Bacon, which was later stolen.

©2016 Sebastian Smee (P)2016 Tantor
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What the critics say

"This ambitious and impressive work is an utterly absorbing read about four important relationships in modern art." ( Publishers Weekly Starred Review)

What listeners say about The Art of Rivalry

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.