Unfortunately, I did not download the ARC on time, therefore I could not read it. Totally my mistake, I didn't realize the archive date had been surpassed. So, I give 1 star not because it was bad, but because I genuinely cannot give it a fair and honest rating and I can't not give 0 stars, which would be the better option since I did not read the book. Apologies to the publisher.

I thought this was a neat read. My favorite was the mundane every day writings. You think of these famous people and expect profound works from them all the time and that’s not accurate. I really liked the actual letter is pictured so you can see their handwriting.

I was interested in the content of letters written by famous artists, and this book was quite a surprise. I enjoyed learning something of the context surrounding the circumstances where the various artists wrote their thoughts, complaints, etc. Very well written and illustrated, Michael Bird knows his subject well and writes accordingly. Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for this opportunity to read and enjoy Artists' Letters.

Of course painters are visual artists not natural letter writings but Michael Bird collects from fascinating examples/

Great one!!

Thank you soooooo much netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced review copy if this book💗
"I voluntarily read and reviewed the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

This collection of letters was fascinating. I loved the descriptions of the context of when and why the letter was written as well as the letters themselves. It was fun to read the slang of different time periods, as well as the content of the letters. ( I send you six carp, they’ll always be nitwit gherkins). I especially enjoyed seeing the actual letters but would not have been able to read some of them without the translations.

Artists' Letters is, obviously, a collection of letters and postcards inumerous artists exchanged with one another and, a few, with unknown recipients.

It's interesting to read how some of these artists talked to one another. The familiarity and, in a particular chapter, how they did business.

The good:

-Pretty nice division, well chaptered.
-The pictures of the originals give the book a nice charm.
-Refreshing read.

The bad:

-Not all of them, but some of the intros before the letter were quite long. It felt like I was back to my Art History classes, where we did nothing but read extensive text. Lol


I haven't highlighted anything, but my favorite letter is obviously Da Vinci's sort-of resume. He really numbered his abilities on paper and got the job. Lol

A pretty cool read.

Thank you for the ARC copy. I liked the book, unfortunately, as a big letters/journals lover, I've already read too any similar ones, so it wasn't as enjoyable to me! But I'd definitely recommend it to someone wanting to read letters for the first time.

(2.5) Mildly interesting to look at handwriting and rough sketches, but unless you have a personal internet in a certain artist, not much information or surrounding sources to make better sense of the letters themselves.