Customer Reviews

Artistic Greatness: A Comparative Exploration of Michelangelo, Beethoven, & Monet

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Throughout his book, McBurney provides excellent contextual and personal information on three of the world's greatest artists, chosen primarily for of their pivotal positions in their areas of expertise. Especially with Claude Monet, it is as if the author followed the artist throughout his life, reporting on the facts occurring simultaneously with his writing, as did Boswell with Samuel Johnson.

But more importantly, this book is not only for lovers of great art. It has relevance for every reader who has aspirations toward greatness. Michelangelo, Beethoven, and Monet are among the many great people around whom we would profit from modeling our own lives. Readers can place themselves in the position of the artist to find out how they compare and what is needed if they are to succeed, as these artists certainly did.

In reporting the salient facts of the lives of his chosen artists, McBurney displays a grasp of the qualities that make for artistic greatness that belie his credentials as a businessman. It became apparent to this reader that the essential characteristics that the author concludes to be the requisites of great artists apply to other, perhaps even all, areas of endeavor, including business, which is, after all, the 'business of America'. For example, just as with great artists, business leaders require the physical and emotional stamina necessary to overcome hurtles and obstacles that stand in their way. Read the book to discover other traits, how the artists under the author's scrutiny applied them, and how you might apply them to achieve success, and perhaps even greatness, in your life.