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Catalogue >Fine Art >  Monographs >  Kitaj Kitaj Andrew Lambirth This monograph is a suberb guide to the work of 'the most inventive of living representational painters'. This groundbreaking book contains a new and wide-ranging interview with the artist, a selection of 60 of Kitaj’s finest paintings, drawings and prints, and previously unpublished documentary images from his personal archive. An invaluable introduction to a major artist. hardback: 144 pages 280 x 230 mm more than 60 colour illustrations ISBN 0 85667 571 7 | Retail price £25.00  View sample pages in PDF format Online price: £17.50 / €26.25 "...it's unique selling point is Kitaj's frank responses to Lambirth's probing questions. Mellowing he is not." Galleries' Magazine, September 2004 "‘I’d rather watch Grace Kelly than Matthew Barney any day. Garbo is more important in my life than Pollock,’ says R.B. Kitaj RA to Lambirth in the interview which forms the heart of this beautifully produced book. Funny and arcane by turns, annoying but also illuminating about Kitaj’s life and practice, the book is a must for devotees as well as a good introduction to a painter who has suffered at the hands of the critics." Royal Academy Magazine, September 2004 "Brief but pointed, the antidote to mindless disparagement, Lambirth's 'Kitaj' is a handsome picture book" The Spectator, illustrated review by William Feaver, October 2004 "The splendid catalogue of an illuminating exhibition in Basel and Washington" "£30 - a price that makes a great book a possibility for every christmas stocking." Brian Sewell in the Evening Standard, December 2004 "provides a direct entry-point into the work and life of a challenging and powerful artist" "full of classic Kitaj" Jewish Chronicle December 2004 Ronald Brooks Kitaj was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1932.His early education culminated in a period of travel as a merchant seaman, after which time he served in Europe in the United States Army (1956-58). As a mature student Kitaj enrolled at the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University, before transferring in 1959 to the Royal College of Art in London. There he assumed the informal leadership of an exceptionally talented group of students which was to become the Pop generation, and included David Hockney, Allen Jones and Patrick Caulfield. Kitaj's first solo exhibition was in London at Marlborough Fine Art in 1963, the gallery he continues to show with. From student days he made his home in London, until the public fracas surrounding his TateGallery retrospective (1994) and the sudden tragic death of his second wife, the painter Sandra Fisher, persuaded him to abandon England. In 1997 he moved to Los Angeles, where he continues to live and work. Now known simply as Kitaj, he is an internationally acclaimed artist working at the height of his powers to give visual embodiment to a lifetime's observations and perceptions about the human condition. As the eminent critic John Russell has written in the New York Times, 'Kitaj is by a long way the most inventive of living representational painters'. The book forms part of a series that presents a critical appraisal of some of the most innovative and controversial contemporary artists in the world. Each volume will contain an art historical appreciation of the artist’s work and a substantial new interview with each artist, focusing on themes such as technique and working practice. An exciting new title, forming part of our Contemporary Artists series. About the Author: Andrew Lambirth reviews art exhibitions and art books for the Royal Academy magazine, the Spectator, Modern Painters, and antional newspapers. He has also curated exhibitions for many artists such as Peter Blake and Maggie Hambling.