The History of Art in 100 Limericks: Vol 1

Art History, but not as we know it. Smart, sharp and witty, The History of Art in 100 Limericks gives a unique twist to Art History, summing up the work of well-known figures in five succinct (and strictly rhyming) lines…

Among poetic forms, the limerick is the happy hand-grenade: short, funny and explosive. To take the name of an artist and to find the perfect rhyme is to make a memorable and enduring association, and Angus Reid has done so to share the joke, and to share a passion for Art. In this first volume of four, he lobs his first barrage of twenty five into the solemn temples.

The book itself is a beautiful miniature gallery, a pleasure to look at, and to touch. With delicate trompe l'oeil, the limericks are attached with paperclips to an impressive array of old masters. The discovery that enabled this act of gentle subversion is the precedent, following the case of Bridgeman Art Library vs Corel Corp (1999), that galleries cannot copyright ‘slavish’ reproductions of art. This has put the entire canon of dead artists at the disposal of these volumes; and for those whose work is still in copyright the book enacts a cunning game of hide and seek with what we know of them.