I absolutely love the content of this book as it's very interesting. I like the background stories about the artists, especially the one's I've just learned about. It's all very fascinating. Another thing is, I find it somewhat relatable the message about using our living spaces as a medium to channel our creativity. Even as a teen, that is how I see my own space, like it's a direct reflection of my mental state and thus influence my art or whatever creative endeavor I'm pursuing. This book belongs on top of every coffee table. I gather it's a perfect conversation starter!

This is a beautiful book to look at. The illustrations perfectly capture the artists homes. The essays explain how their homes inspired their art. I liked the selection of artists and was familiar with many of them. At the end of the book the author shows how to make your home more creative. The book was well written and easy to read. Enjoy

This was interesting, although there are some spaces you wish you could see more/different angles of. Still, it was inspiring to think about how to make your space your own and conducive to creativity.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book has short essays about a number of artists with some illustrations of their living spaces. Among the artists are world-famous painters like Van Gogh, Matisse and Georgia O'Keeffe, along with more contemporary names.
The book does not follow a chronological order., and each part is dedicated to one name. The words for each of the 17 artists have some biographic information, highlights from artists' lives and interviews, and some personal notes from the writer on their studios, rooms and houses. The paintings accompany the text are dynamic and colourful, and they reflect the sentiment of these special places from the eyes of the illustrator.
I read the book jumping back and forth, starting with the names I want to read the most. It was an enjoyable read as the illustrations and words make an impressive combination.
I think people who like art and want to read about the places in which various artists lived and worked will enjoy this book.

They say a picture is worth 1000 words... and they are right! Overall, the idea behind this book is not bad and the writing is really pleasant. Unfortunately the illustrations do not have the desired effect and they do not transport me in the homes of the artists the book talks about. At all!

Nothing against the illustrator, but I just did not care for the illustrations. I think pictures would've worked a lot better with this book - and sure, have illustrations too, but don't expect them to be as effective.

This is a delightful book about a varied selection of artists from around the world. The author, Melissa, and illustrator, Kate, have visited some of these homes, described them, and created lovely, colourful paintings alongside. Seventeen artists and their homes have been included. Some are well known, such as Georgia O'Keeffe and Claude Monet, others less so, such as Clementine Hunter and Donald Judd. All very interesting. It would have been good to see an example of each artists work as not all were familiar to me. Thank you to Melissa Wyse, Kate Lewis, Net Galley and Chronicle Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was a great book and I would definitely use it as a travel companion. I like that it listed so many places that are new and not typical. If you’re not interested in traveling to the places, it’s also a good read because it’s filled with information on amazing artists and places.

Artists in Residence is a very cute and unique book. I love the original concept of it. Artists in Residence explores 17 famous artists and their spaces. It is brilliantly illustrated by Kate Lewis and the descriptions are entertaining and well thought out. It was a pleasure to step into the homes of the artists that I look up to and have inspired me throughout my life. I always see their artwork, but rarely beyond that. I enjoyed getting a glimpse into the surroundings that inspired their artwork, and also how their artwork impacted and influenced their surroundings.

This book was not for me. I think I would have liked it better if there were either real photos inside the house instead of the watercolor paintings all by Kate Lewis, or if there were paintings by the artists.
I was hoping for some artistic inspiration. I did not get inspired by this book, it was just blah.
I received this galley from NetGalley.

Artists in Residence provides lovely illustrations and insights into the homes of 17 artists. The mixture of biographical information, historical information, and personal reflection from Melissa Wyse and Kate Lewis provide an enjoyable read for anyone interested in artists, home decor, and lurking on the spaces where others feel at home (who doesn't love an open house viewing?). The illustrations are beautiful and provide a consistent tone between each section, even though the residences are each as diverse as the artists' works. As an academic librarian with a focus in art history, I did at times wish for a few photographs for reference along with the artwork, but that's coming as a researcher and in-depth art historical research is not this book's intent. Overall, Artists in Residence provides an inspiring glimpse into the importance of space in the creative process.

A big thank you to Chronicle Books for giving me an advanced reader copy of “Artists in Residence: Seventeen Artists and Their Living Spaces, from Giverny to Casa Azul” written by Melissa Wyse and illustrated by Kate Lewis, in exchange for an honest review via Net Galley. This book is available February 2, 2021.

It was such a treat to get inspired about something as niche and not-at-all on my radar as the living spaces of great artists spanning several centuries. I went into this read knowing only that the hardworking creative duo of Melissa Wyse and Kate Lewis had worked in tandem to put together a well-researched nonfiction book that featured no photographs, and yet transported the reader to each artists’ residence.

Right from the introduction, I was drawn in. Something about the way that these two talented women’s passions overlapped made what I was reading feel like fate, and all the more valuable to read. What followed were fourteen essays divulging the histories and intimate details of not only artists’ homesteads, but origin stories.

I appreciated the balance of artists that I knew much about paired with ones who I had yet to learn about, however I ended up learning new things about the artists I thought I was already well-versed in, too! For example, the complicated relationships written about regarding Vanessa Bell & Duncan Grant’s home at Charleston in East Sussex were foreign to me, and had me looking around my own home searching for the best place to paint decorative motifs on doorframes. This was balanced well with a section on Donald Judd and his grandeur homes in Marfa and New York City, something that felt more familiar while also arguably even more wild.

Reading nonfiction, even when it relates to my field, can make me nervous when it comes to getting fatigued or having my eyes gloss over, but this was not at all even on my radar while reading “Artists in Residence” - if anything, it felt as if the vignettes on each artist home could have gone on even longer! I loved being asked to ponder my own self-expression via home, and it felt like the perfect time to do so as I prepare to move into a new house in a few months.

If you enjoy being asked big questions about art and its potential forms, this book is right up your alley. Start thinking about not only how an artist makes a home, but how a home makes an artist out of all of us by grabbing a copy of “Artists in Residence” when it officially comes out February 2nd! This was a 4.5 star read for me and I bet you will feel similarly!

"Through our writing and painting, we hope to convey not just what a home looks like, but also some greater essence of how it feels."

I don't feel I'm a good enough writer to give a book like this a proper review. But every page of writing, every painting, made me feel something. I want to explore more of Melissa Wyse's words, more of Kate Lewis's illustrations, more of the lives and work of every artist detailed in this book, and most importantly, more of how art fits into my own life and the space in which I choose to encapsulate myself.

I could have easily read Artists in Residence in one sitting, but only halfway through each essay, I found myself flipping back through pages to once again look at the paintings of the spaces, pausing between paragraphs to look up images of the artists' works, taking breaks from this book to read articles about others' experiences with these artists, further peeks into their lives and the effects they've had on others. Upon first glancing at the chapter/artist names I thought I only knew a few of them, but while doing a bit of light research, realized I'd seen work by all of them, even if not knowing a name with which to connect it. While this ultimately made the reading of the book take longer than it could have, it greatly increased my enjoyment.

In this article about Louise Bourgeois moving a man to tears with her Femme Maison series, there's a takeaway quote of how his many viewings of mostly modern art affect him: "Art and emotion tends to be a slow burn, built up over a period of time as I get to know and really appreciate the artist and their work." While with many artists I find myself immediately moved by something in their work, I find the ones that don't quite hit the mark for me right away, or that ones that hit a little differently, come with an entirely new appreciation the more I learn about the artists themselves.

This reminds me of something I came to a conclusion about many years ago: the more I learn about something the more interesting it becomes. While it doesn't apply to everything, it does apply to a great deal and seems to be a majority rule for me. The more I learn about something, the more I want to continue learning, and the more appreciation I have for the thing I'm learning about. When I can see the layers of thought that must have gone into it, the hours of consideration, the years of life experiences, daydreams, and sleepless nights the creator managed to compress into something cohesive and less ephemeral, I can't help but appreciate it, even if I can't directly relate to it myself.

This book does some of that work for us. It doesn't tell us everything - that would, I think, be impossible, even if a book this length were dedicated to each artist. But it gives us something better than just a starting point, gives us a glimpse into what these artists see, think, feel, experience, and pour into their art, further filtered through two other artists specializing in words and watercolor. It's enough to not only whet the appetite, but also give us something to think about and drive our search for more information, which is usually the most difficult part of beginning to learn. That direction can branch off into countless others, dependent on our own individual interests, and that's one of the major gifts of this book being put together the way it is.

I'd highly recommend Artists in Residence to anyone interested in art. It's such a gem in and of itself with the prose and watercolor illustrations, and is a wonderful starting point for further research into a varied range of art tastes.

This is a fascinating examination of the living spaces of a number of 20th century artists, such as Louise Bourgeois, Georgia O'Keefe and Vanessa Bell & Duncan Grant. The only thing that let it down, really, was the preference for illustration over photography. I would have loved to have seen some photos of these spaces, rather than solely an artist's interpretation.

There are no photographs in this book - it depicts all interiors in the watercolor illustrative style seen on the cover.

I think the way the publisher pitched this book provided some difficulties in adjusting to the reality of the contents. I cannot blame the writer or illustrator for that, but the way it sounded was like this was a coffee-table book filled with an inside look into the artist’s homes. It’s not that. At least, it’s not what I think of when I read those words. I realize it said that there were illustrations, but I thought they would be in addition to photographs, not instead of.

The text was interesting and filled with style contrasts, almost like the author wrote differently when talking about other artists. Perhaps it’s the way the story, or the memory, affected the writer. For example, when writing about Paula Modersohn-Becker, the style is very approachable and relaxed. But the section on Zaria Forman reads like an encyclopedia entry. I found this disconnect repeating, and it made me wonder about the cause.

The illustrations were pleasant and attractive, with calming colors in an impressionist style. I wished there were more small illustrations, like the lovely bench in Krasner’s section, interspersed between the dense walls of text to break them up.

One of my favorites was the illustration with the black couch on page 51, but at the same time it brings up a formatting problem I had with this book - there are no labels on the illustrations. It’s in the section on Bell and Grant, and on the following page is a phrase that reads: “their home’s hand-painted gray paisley Garden Room.” I think that’s what I’m looking at in that illustration, but it appears purple to me rather than gray, so I’m uncertain. Again, that’s not a problem with the artist, but something that should have been added during formatting by the publisher.

Overall, I’ll give the illustration 5 stars, the writing 4, but the misleading description and formatting problems have to bump it down to a 3. This book didn’t have to have these issues, the writer and artist deserved a better presentation.

Renewed vision!

What a great idea! Looking at various artists’ residences. I know similar books have been published but I just really did enjoy this “seeing” through a different lens. Although reading this reminded me that I’d missed visiting Monet’s Giverny years ago due to it being closed for the season. Sigh! Something I’ve had a lingering regret about over the years.
Kate Lewis is to be congratulated on her extraordinary illustrations. She brought the artists’ homes alive. Her illustrative exploration deepened the book’s aesthetic experience for us. What a wonderful way to research! And then, Melissa Wyse’s very different investigative method over the years, of filling notebooks with descriptive prose about those residences!
Only for the two to so serendipitously meet at an ‘artists in residence’ enclave! Brilliant!
Aspects the described homes have in common are colour and movement, a sense of touch, giving a sense of presence. The two very talented contributors reflect that joyously. They talk about their methodology of presenting the book. Hoping that through their joint writings and paintings, sometimes revisiting the homes, as giving them “a new intimacy with the creative life of each artist.” I found it invoked those feelings for me as the reader.
Cameo views from windows, spaces that wrapped the chosen artists and their residences and brought them into focus. From minimalistic to crowded, simple to complex. A gift indeed!
I found myself walking around my home, reflecting on views through windows and pleasing patterns inside and out, on textures and lines, and determining to continue to consider the aesthetic of my personal space. A revisit of the idea of a home for all the senses as Kate and Melissa alluded to. They invite us to explore the aesthetic sense of our own homes—whatever that might be, through the example of some of the artistic legends they’ve shown us.

A Chronicle Books ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Artists in Residence is a simply and colorfully painted book with scenes and vignettes from 15 famous residences of 17 famous artists. Due out 2nd Feb 2021 from Chronicle Books, it's 144 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

There really is a nice cross section of short bios and glimpses in this collection of artists. There are no photographs, it's all painted sketches and contextual tidbits about the lifestyles and residences of artists from Monet and Matisse, Frida Kahlo (and Diego Rivera), to Van Gogh, and Basquiat. I had never really thought holistically about their works partially being a product of the places they lived and their home lives.

I especially enjoyed reading about Georgia O'Keeffe's simple life and serenity/escape in her kitchen. Somehow I had never really thought of her as particularly domestic or at home outside her own emotional strength and self reliance and the description of the scope, simplicity, and efficiency of her food growing and self-sufficiency gave me a deeper understanding of her life and maybe her art.

The illustrations are simple, in gouache and watercolor, as well as clear and appealing. There are a number of profound takeaways from the artist/authors' introduction which invite reflection and thought.

This is a really well presented and appealing book. I would recommend it unhesitatingly to students of art, art history, biography, interior decor, painting, and allied subjects. This short volume would make a good selection for library acquisition, as well as an appropriate choice for an artist's studio library.

Very well done. Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes..

What a fascinating book! Instead of just being shown photographs I loved that the paintings and description of the houses and how they reflected events in artists lives fired my imagination and I felt I ‘was there’ . The illustrations are beautiful in their own right. The authors have chosen an interesting mix of artists both modern and classic. Several I had not come across before and am now a fan of at least one of them. The descriptions led me to want to do further research on almost the artists covered. I also felt I had gained a much deeper understanding of the artists I was already familiar with and how events in their lives influenced their work. Definitely recommended!

Stunning - my only regret is that I had to experience it on a Kindle. This is a book that clearly needs to be appreciated in person. What a treat!

Beautiful reflection on a wide array of different artists with different mediums and the places they make for themselves. Illustrations by Kate Lewis are absolutely stunning and full of so much life.

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE offers a splendid look at 17 artists and their creative spaces, brought to life by Kate Lewis’ gorgeous illustrations and Melissa Wyse’s thoughtful descriptions. It’s a wonderful mini course featuring such renowned artists as Basquiat, Bourgeois, O’Keeffe, Pollock, Kahlo and Rivera, Monet, and others.

The colorful illustrations made me feel as if I had just stepped into O’Keeffe’s sunny Ghost Ranch, or Monet’s Giverny home awash in yellow, and helped me see how “spaces” impact creativity.

Also intriguing is the story of how this book came to be, as the co-authors magically found each other and realized they could combine what each had worked on alone for years. Highly recommended for art lovers of every sort!

5 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 02 Feb 2021

Thanks to the author, Chronicle Books, and NetGalley for the ARC, in exchange for my honest review.

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