A firm favourite in the Errant library and one that belongs in every book collection, Robert Walser's essays about art are ultimately all about life and living. His unique voice is ideal to take us on an imaginative stroll through creativity, expression and ideas. Reading this is like hanging out with your perfectly eccentric and wise uncle for a few hours and then drifting home in a daze thinking "that was the best day and the best conversation ever".
The format of the book itself is also damn special, a neat small hardback with images stuck onto pages throughout like loose mini postcards. A beautiful and elegant collection, with gorgeous full-colour art reproductions, Looking at Pictures presents a little-known side of the eccentric Swiss genius: his great writings on art. Walser's essays consider Van Gogh, Cezanne, Rembrandt, Cranach, Watteau, Fragonard, Brueghel and his own brother Karl and also discuss general topics such as the character of the artist and the differences between painters and poets. Every piece is marked by Walser’s unique eye, his delicate sensitivity, and his very particular sensibilities and all are touched by his magic screwball wit.
A bonafide classic.