A review by dillarhonda
The Art of Rivalry: Four Friendships, Betrayals, and Breakthroughs in Modern Art by Sebastian Smee

Sebastian Smee's book The Art of Rivalry explores the historic friendships and rivalries between four sets of famous painters; Freud and Bacon, Manet and Degas, Matisse and Picasso, and Pollock and de Kooning. Smee suggests that the friction between these men was key to developing each's full potential. Sometimes focusing on the personal relationship between the two men, (Manet and Degas remained supporters of each other's work for their whole lives), he also emphasises professional competition (Pollock and de Kooning seem to have given each other a wide berth for the most part). Though Smee's prose shines in describing the paintings and capturing the shades of intensity particular to each artist, he comes off as rather stuffy when it comes to social matters. Overemphasis on what he deems scandalous (gay sex, affairs, and drug use) bely his essential discomfort with dissecting the private lives of these famously tormented men. So much the better then, when he returns to visceral depictions of their professional setbacks and triumphs. Though lacking in overarching analysis, The Art of Rivalry leaves the reader knowing more about the histories of these artists and with a renewed hunger for the drama and passion of painting.