Get the Picture
A Mind-Bending Journey among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See
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- 89,00 kr
Publisher Description
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2024 BY NPR, TIME, AND THE ECONOMIST
“Get the Picture is one of the funniest books I’ve read . . . Brilliant.” —The Washington Post
“A gripping and often hilarious investigation into the art world. . . . Bosker goes full Tom Wolfe.” —TIME
“Funny, whip-smart, and gorgeously written, Get the Picture will forever transform the way you see. . . . I loved every word.” —Suleika Jaouad, New York Times bestselling author of Between Two Kingdoms
The New York Times bestselling author of Cork Dork takes readers on another fascinating, hilarious, and revelatory journey—this time burrowing deep inside the secretive world of art and artists
An award-winning journalist obsessed with obsession, Bianca Bosker’s existence was upended when she wandered into the art world—and couldn’t look away. Intrigued by artists who hyperventilate around their favorite colors and art fiends who max out credit cards to show hunks of metal they think can change the world, Bosker grew fixated on understanding why art matters and how she—or any of us—could engage with it more deeply.
In Get the Picture, Bosker throws herself into the nerve center of art and the people who live for it: gallerists, collectors, curators, and, of course, artists themselves—the kind who work multiple jobs to afford their studios while scrabbling to get eyes on their art. As she stretches canvases until her fingers blister, talks her way into A-list parties full of billionaire collectors, has her face sat on by a nearly-naked performance artist, and forces herself to stare at a single sculpture for hours on end while working as a museum security guard, she discovers not only the inner workings of the art-canonization machine but also a more expansive way of living.
Probing everything from cave paintings to Instagram, and from the science of sight to the importance of beauty as it examines art’s role in our culture, our economy, and our hearts, Get the Picture is a rollicking adventure that will change the way you see forever.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
If you’ve ever looked at a painting in a gallery and thought “I don’t get it,” you’re gonna love this. Journalist Bianca Bosker loves immersing herself in topics she knows nothing about—her wonderful Cork Dork was a deep dive into wine culture. In Get the Picture, her target is the exclusive, cliquey modern art scene. As she travels from a struggling Brooklyn storefront gallery to Miami’s high-profile Art Basel fair, Bosker learns a couple of important things. One is that the self-important culture surrounding modern art is gossipy, weird, and funny. (It turns out the reason art criticism is so hard to read is because everyone is trying to write like poor translations of French and German critics from the 1950s!) Even more importantly, she learns that art itself can actually transform your life in ways you’d never imagine. Bosker’s delightful book punctures pretensions while also tracking her personal metamorphosis into someone who genuinely loves art.
