title: Keeping an Eye Open: Essays on Art (Vintage International)
author:  Julian Barnes 
description: Eloquent. . . . This is a novelists criticism, full of motion and drama. <i>The Washington Post</i><br /><br />An engaging and empathetic volume. <i>The New York Times Book Review</i><br /><br />Perceptive. . . . Generous and discerning. <i>The Boston Globe</i><br /> <br /> Fascinating and brilliant. . . . This magnificent survey draws its strength from its intensely personal focus, each piece reverberating off the others. <i>The Financial Times</i><br /><br />Illuminating. . . . Avid and thoughtful. . . . [Barnes] chatters like the gifted novelist he is, using his eye for the telling detail, his narrative intuition and his understanding of the creative process to help us see familiar artists like Degas, Braque and Magritte afresh, and to appreciate the work of lesser-known masters as well. <i>The New York Times<br /></i><br /> [A] superb collection. . . . Barness observations and expression prov[e] equally adept and satisfying. <i>Minneapolis Star Tribune<br /></i><br /> This is art writing of the first order. . . . Page after page, essay after essay, Barnes pulls off the sort of acrobatically erudite performance that ultimately draws as much admiration for him as for the art he describes. <i>Richmond Times-Dispatch</i><br /><br /> Powerful accounts of interconnections between art and artist. . . . Sharply observed and richly illuminating. . . . Barnes has a wonderful eye for what makes a great picture, and a command of language that again and again allows readers to share what he sees. <i>Times Literary Supplement<br /></i><br /> A readable, riveting, informed work with sharp, marvellous anecdotes and observations. . . . In this beautifully illustrated book youre in great company. <i>The Irish Independent<br /></i><br /> Extremely rewarding, informative, attentive, thoughtful, entertaining.<i>The Evening Standard<br /></i><br /> Barnes weaves biography, history, philosophy in this fascinating, richly illuminating and beautifully written book. <i>Art Quarterly<br /></i><br /> Its both a pleasure and an education to look over Barness shoulder as he interrogates, wonders at, and relishes works of art. Hes a critic who prioritizes the objects themselves, and his work is always satisfying. <i>Publishers Weekly</i> (starred review)<br /><br /> Scholarly and astute yet accessible and exciting. . . . Barnes focuses his analytical prowess on significant artists and their oeuvres, opening fresh vistas to readersand viewers. <i>Kirkus Reviews</i> (starred)<br /><br /> Handsomely illustrated, superbly written, felicitously thought-provoking. . . . Barnes is a consummate stylist, not only because of his artistic command of language but also by virtue of his searching intelligence, incisive candor, rogue wit, and righteous fairness. <i>Booklist</i><br /> [Barnes] digs into fascinating details of isometric proportions. . . . Highly recommended to all art readers. <i>Library Journal</i>
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  # Villa Rubein and Other Stories
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### John Galsworthy
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### PREFACE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  Writing not long ago to my oldest literary friend, I expressed in a
  
  
  moment of heedless sentiment the wish that we might have again one of
  
  
  our talks of long-past days, over the purposes and methods of our
  
  
  art. And my friend, wiser than I, as he has always been, replied
  
  
  with this doubting phrase "Could we recapture the zest of that old
  
  
  time?"
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  I would not like to believe that our faith in the value of
  
  
  imaginative art has diminished, that we think it less worth while to
  
  
  struggle for glimpses of truth and for the words which may pass them
  
  
  on to other eyes; or that we can no longer discern the star we tried
  
  
  to follow; but I do fear, with him, that half a lifetime of endeavour
  
  
  has dulled the exuberance which kept one up till morning discussing
  
  
  the ways and means of aesthetic achievement. We