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The Impossible Collection: The 100 Most Coveted Artworks of the Modern Era

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I will start off by stating that this book is not a terrible book; however, if one chooses to title a book "The Impossible Collection: The 100 Most Coveted Artworks of the Modern Era," then the 100 Most Coveted Artworks should actually be in the book. Many of the most important, most well-known works of the Twentieth Century are absent from this collection. "Yo, Picasso" is a good painting; "Guitar" is a good sculpture; neither are "Guernica", which is not included among the four Picasso works represented. "The Dance" by Matisse is included, unfortunately other, lesser Matisse works have made their way into this book as well. While it is difficult to gauge what the most important works are from Barnett Newman, Frank Stella, Mark Rothko, Cindy Sherman, Richard Serra, and several other artists; the authors have included what I believe are sub-standard, minor works from these artists. I have the catalogue raisonnes for several, so I can actually compare various works to back this opinion up. What I do know is that "Eddie Diptych" by Roy Lichtenstein is nowhere close to being his most famous or important work, that honor goes to "Whaam!" You will find Campbell's Soup Cans and Elvis by Andy Warhol but no Brillo Boxes or Marilyn. Segalot and Giraud ignore Photorealism; you will not find Richard Estes, George Segal, Audrey Flack in "The Impossible Collection." The list of important artists omitted from this book is quite long: Man Ray, Diego Rivera, Ellsworth Kelly, Richard Hamilton, Josef Albers, Keith Haring, Andres Serrano, and others. Also, with the exception of Cindy Sherman, no photographers are included, no William Eggleston, Jeff Wall, Bernd and Hilla Becher, etc. The book is hampered by no table of contents or index; you will not be able to pick up "The Impossible Collection," look at a table of contents or index, and turn to a specific page (there are no page numbers either).

That being said, there are good things about "The Impossible Collection." The book is laid out cleanly and professionally. The reproductions are large and of excellent quality. Assouline is known for high-quality books and this one is no exception. While many artists do not have their best works in "The Impossible Collection," many do. Gustav Klimt, Henri Matisse, Giorgio de Chirico, Rene Magritte, Salvador Dali, Francis Bacon, Jeff Koons, and Damien Hirst all have their signature works in this book.

"The Impossible Collection" is a good art book. Yet, everyone should know that it is not the best collection of artwork from the Twentieth Century.

This book is a selection of one hundred works of art, all made in the XXth century and that the authors, two artmarket heavy-weights who count among their clients some of the most important collectors of modern and contemporary arts, dream of owning in their would-be ideal art collection. As in any such endeavour, the selection is obviously an arbitrary one (and the authors readily acknowledge this fact)and the informed reader will notice many works that passed through Giraud's and Ségalot's hands (such as the Lichtenstein that graces the cover, or the Twombly, both coming from the former Sonnabend collection which made headlines in early 2009); indeed, it leaves out such important figures as Philip Guston or Richard Diebenkorn and, besides, the book somewhat resembles an auction house catalogue, with such household names as Picasso, Matisse, Kandinsky, Klee, Dubuffet, Pollock, Johns, Twombly, Warhol, Basquiat, Koons and Hirst, but it is interesting in that it shows the current state of the art market in terms of taste and trends. Yet, one is tempted to ask one question: a hundred years from now, will the selection be the same for the same period?