Artists' Journeys That Shaped Our World

Described as 'one of the country's finest pop culture historians', Travis Elborough is an acclaimed author and social commentator who lives in London. His work delves into the ephemera of retro culture as well as the history of London, geography, and a broad range of other subjects. His Atlas of Vanishing Places won the Illustrated Book of the Year at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards in 2020, and he has also written The Bus We Loved, a passionate love letter to the Routemaster bus which defined London transport for more than 50 years. His other works include A Traveller’s Year, A London Year, The Long-Player Goodbye, Being A Writer and A Walk in the Park: The Life and Times of a People’s Institution. Travis is a regular contributor to Radio 4 and the Guardian, and has penned articles on all aspects of travel and culture, from pirates in the Caribbean to donkeys at the British seaside. He has written for the Times, Sunday Times, New Statesman, BBC History Magazine and Kinfolk among others, and is a visiting lecturer at the University of Westminster, where he teaches creative writing.

"[Elborough] brings each trip to life with fascinating insights into the stories behind the creation of some of the world's most famous paintings."

• IntroductionJean-Michel Basquiat Seeks Connections in Cote d’Ivoire and BeninCaravaggio Legs It to MaltaMary Cassatt Makes an Impression in ParisPaul Cézanne Aches for Aix-en-ProvenceSalvador Dalí Takes Manhattan by Surrealist StormMarcel Duchamp Becomes Obsessed with Chess in Buenos AiresAlbrecht Dürer Has a Whale of a Time in the NetherlandsHelen Frankenthaler Soaks Up ProvincetownCaspar David Friedrich Replenishes Himself on RügenDavid Hockney Goes La-la over Los AngelesKatsushika Hokusai Scales Mount FujiTove Jansson Summers in the Pellinki ArchipelagoFrida Kahlo and Diego Rivera Honeymoon in CuernavacaWassily Kandinsky Finds His Artistic Calling in the Province of VologdaAlexander Keirincx Paints All the King’s Castles in Yorkshire and ScotlandPaul Klee Is Transformed by TunisiaGustav Klimt Gets Scenic on the AtterseeOskar Kokoschka Takes Refuge in PolperroHenri Matisse Fends Off the Rain in MoroccoLondon Makes a Big Impression on Claude MonetBerthe Morisot Accepts a Proposal in NormandyEdvard Munch Summers by the Sea at ÅsgårdstrandIsamu Noguchi Takes a Monumental World TourMarianne North Goes South to Paint Indian FloraGeorgia O’Keeffe Goes WestPablo Picasso Falls for the South of FranceJohn Singer Sargent Sinks into VeniceJoaquín Sorolla y Bastida Goes Canvassing across SpainJ.M.W. Turner Takes a Final Tour of SwitzerlandVincent van Gogh Has Quite a Year in ProvenceSelected BibliographyIndexPicture Credits