

What better way to learn about some of the world’s foremost artists than by looking at nice pictures?
Brooklyn-based artist du jour James Gulliver Hancock encourages you to do just that with the publication of his “factoid portrait” book, Artists, Writers, Thinkers, Dreamers: Portraits of 50 Famous Folks and All Their Weird Stuff.
Brief glances at Hancock’s whimsical sketches reveal all manner of repeatable intrigue without the clumsy intrusions of spoddy stuff, like sentences. Get this: between robbing graves for research, Leonardo Da Vinci only ate vegetables and wrote mirrored missives from right to left with his wrong hand. And Salvador Dali often wore a cape, was paralyzed by the site of crickets and invented the Chupa Chups logo.
It’s all lighthearted, engaging stuff and, if utilised cannily, decent artillery for the next time you have some higher-brow friends over.
You can buy Hancock’s book by clicking here
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Andy Warhol
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Vincent van Gogh
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Salvador Dalí
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Leonardo Da Vinci
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Frida Kahlo
As Shortlist’s Staff Writer, Danielle spends most of her time compiling lists of the best ways to avoid using the Central Line at rush hour.