Artifacts: Fascinating Facts about Art, Artists, and the Art World Phaidon Editors 9781838663155

'Even a seasoned art history buff will find new things to discover in this book.' - Hyperallergic

'Fascinating facts and illuminating anecdotes.' - The Art Newspaper

The perfect miscellany for every art lover - an essential and engaging collection of facts, figures, and findings about art, artists, and the art world, past and present

This extraordinary compendium of compelling facts, figures, and findings gathers and distils obscure and fascinating information about art, artists, and the art world. Fun, surprising, and compelling, in this covetable book you will learn:

- which artist's work is stolen most often (Picasso)
- names of artists' pets: Fat Fat & Cous-Cous (Louise Nevelson's cats), Giotto and Goya (John Baldessari's dogs)
- artist couples (Nancy Rubins and Chris Burden; Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely; Dorothea Tanning and Max Ernst)
- things artists collect: prosthetic arms and legs (Sophie Calle), glass eyes (Hiroshi Sugimoto)
- odd jobs and side hustles: telephone marketer (Tomma Abts), crop duster (James Turrell)
- artists who were rejected from art school (Francisco Goya, Auguste Rodin)

... and hundreds of other miscellaneous details. Thoughtfully and thoroughly researched, this intriguing book offers refreshing and surprising perspectives on the world of art.

The five page-turning chapters cover:
- Artists
- Art School
- Art Studio
- Art Museum
- Art World