Immortal Thoughts: Late Style in a Time of Plague

Immortal Thoughts: Late Style in a Time of Plague is a collection of nineteen short essays on artists' late ideas, memories, risks, handling, and places, written in a passionate style by Christopher Neve. It is an analysis of the late work of 19 major artists, which Max Porter describes as "completely and utterly marvellous."

Format: Hardback
Length: 160 pages
Publication date: 30 March 2023
Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd

In 2020, amidst the global chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, an elderly artist finds solace in his childhood home, where he witnesses the awe-inspiring beauty of the changing seasons and ponders upon the final artistic creations of his most revered artists. It strikes him that in their late works, their final artistic expressions, these artists share a remarkable commonality. This connection, rooted in intuition and memory rather than rationality or reason, emerges from their attempt to write about painting itself. Immortal Thoughts: Late Style in a Time of Plague is an anthology of these introspective reflections. Within this personal and poignant narrative, nineteen short essays on artists are interspersed with brief accounts of the devastating global progression of the disease, juxtaposed against the serene beauty of the seasons within the isolated house and garden. These narrative strands are intricately intertwined, creating a tapestry of contrast. From Cézanne's final watercolors to Michelangelo's final five drawings, Rembrandt's contemplation of suffering to Gwen John's portrayal of absence, Christopher Neve delves into the late ideas, memories, risks, techniques, and locations of these artists within the profound context of time and mortality. Neve's writing, equal parts art history and a discussion of great art within the realm of the Dance of Death, exudes a renewed passion for artists such as Bonnard, Michelangelo, Morandi, Poussin, and Soutine, among many others, as he weaves his distinctive style into the fabric of his analysis.

Weight: 354g
Dimension: 147 x 225 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780500025796