Martin Gayford is something of an insider in the London art world and has been talking about painting for more than two decades to the likes of Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud, Frank Auerbach, and David Hockney.  (His account of sitting for his portrait by Freud – Man with a Blue Scarf – is a brilliant book). It’s difficult to think of someone better qualified to write a history of what happened in English painting in the time between the end of the Second War World and the mid-1970s. With Modernists & Mavericks, he has written a really engaging and intelligent account of that period, steering clear of both gossipy reminiscence and dry theory to produce a vivid story of what we can now see was an extraordinary flourishing of talent in London.

Gayford’s own critical preferences are clear enough.  He sees Bacon as the towering figure of the period and as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, with Freud not far behind.  He presents a strong case for this opinion and overall I think he manages to avoid the risk of making the London scene in the period feel at some points as having been all about a reaction to these two extraordinary painters. He’s sensitive to what would have been both a critical and historical distortion, presenting important painters as walk-on parts in a drama dominated by Bacon and Freud.  Nevertheless, it’s impossible to give appropriate space to everyone who flourished in London at that time, so we’ll all have to look elsewhere for a full critical appreciation of the likes of Bridget Riley or Howard Hodgkin. And only time will tell if the reputations of others will rise to challenge Gayford’s assessment.  My own hunch is that Frank Auerbach will, as time goes on, be seen as at least the equal of Bacon and Freud.  Time will tell, but in the meantime Gayford has given us a readable, even-handed, and intelligent review of a fascinating period in modern art history.