Sensations: The Story of British Art from Hogarth to Banksy

What is the artistic impulse uniting Robert Hooke’s drawings of insects, George Stubbs’s studies of horses and Damien Hirst’s pickled shark? In this new and spirited account of British art, Jonathan Jones argues for empiricism. From the Enlightenment to the present, British artists have shared a passion for looking hard at the world around them. Jones shows how this zeal for precision and careful observation paved the way for Realism, Impressionism and the birth of modern art.

This essential art book is a must-read for fans of Gombrich’s The Story of Art and the perfect introduction to British art history.   

About the Author:

Jonathan Jones is the art critic for The Guardian newspaper. He was on the jury for the 2009 Turner Prize and is the author of The Loves of the Artists: Art and Passion in the Renaissance and The Lost Battles: Leonardo, Michelangelo and the Artistic Duel that Defined the Renaissance.

“Sensations presents a radically new story of British art. It connects the artists of today with British culture more than three hundred years ago as it finds an unexpected thread that links William Hogarth and Tracey Emin, Thomas Gainsborough and Lucian Freud. What they share is an eye for the real world. I hope this book will change how you see Britain, and its art.” – Jonathan Jones