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Critic, author and art pilgrim Martin Gayford recounts some of the many journeys he has made in the course of a lifetime in pursuit of art

About the Author

Martin Gayford is art critic for the Spectator. His books include Man with a Blue Scarf, A Bigger Message, Rendez-vous with Art (with Philippe de Montebello) and Modernists & Mavericks. He is also co-author with David Hockney of A History of Pictures.

Reviews

'Gayford is a great travelling companion. Where art criticism can be pompous, wordy and jargon-filled, here he’s warm, honest, confiding, intelligent, yes, but never talking down to his reader' - Shiny New Books

'Martin Gayford is a perceptive and informed critic who has been writing about art for several decades and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of his subject … Gayford’s light touch makes it a thumping good read' - The Artist

'An admirable book … one of [Gayford’s] talents is the ability to convey the essence of an artist’s work, a style or an art movement in clear, concise passages that contain no jargon' - Country Life

'A charming short book about [Gayford’s] peregrinations and how different contexts have affected his thinking about the art and the artists' - Michael Prodger’s Books of the Year, Sunday Times

'The experience of reading Gayford’s travelogue is buoyed along by his crisp, lucid prose … In its understated way, the book offers a kind of modern-day equivalent to Herodotus – with Gayford dutifully trudging the earth, reporting on things both incidental and profound' - Times Literary Supplement

'Engaging and entertaining ... A great storyteller, Gayford's writing is both chatty and informative and the book is a pleasure to read' - Amy Dempsey, Shepherd.com