The Geometry of Beauty

James Bartos offers a compelling account of the rich history and enduring aesthetic power of geometric abstract art. Writing with the passion of a committed collector and the sensibility of an art historian, Bartos doesn’t just chart his subject, he defends its place within the contemporary art world and provokes larger questions about what makes art meaningful. All this is only the backdrop to the real subject of his book, the six ‘not very British’ artists who are presented through a series of insightful new interviews with the artists and their gallerists. Bartos’s unusual combination of art history, critique and artist testimony thoroughly reinvigorates one’s appreciation of geometric abstract art today. Barnaby Wright, Deputy Head of The Courtauld Gallery and Daniel Katz Curator of 20th Century Art In this deeply personal study, James Bartos situates British geometric abstraction within the context of a broader international movement which spanned the course of the twentieth century, and which continues into our own time. The author’s thoughtful consideration of Alan Reynolds, Peter Joseph, Marc Vaux, John Carter, Callum Innes, and Luke Frost – six artists whose beautiful and deeply intelligent work Bartos reveres and collects – examines why geometric abstraction developed as a side-stream to figuration in British art, appreciated more enthusiastically abroad than at home. Interviews with the artists and those who knew them, illustrated with fine examples across a range of media, explore what drew each to pursue a means of expression that developed against the grain of British modernism. These thoughtful conversations press for a serious reconsideration of the artists’ work, and of British geometric abstraction more generally. Amy Meyers, Director, Yale Center for British Art