Painting is a continually expanding and evolving medium. The radical changes that have taken place since the 1960s and 1970s – the period that saw the shift from a modernist to a postmodernist visual language – have led to its reinvigoration as a practice, lending it an energy and diversity that persist today.

In Contemporary Painting, renowned critic and art historian Suzanne Hudson offers an intelligent and original survey of the subject: a rigorous critical snapshot that brings together more than 250 renowned artists from around the world, whose ideas and aesthetics characterize the painting of our time. These luminaries include Cecily Brown, Theaster Gates, Josh Smith, Jenny Saville, Julie Mehretu, Takashi Murakami, Gabriel Orozco, Christina Quarles, Kara Walker, Kehinde Wiley, Zhang Xiaogang and many others.

Organized into seven thematic chapters exploring aspects of contemporary painting, this is an essential volume for art history enthusiasts, students, critics and practitioners.

With 245 illustrations in colour