Art

by Yasmina Reza

Book Overview

The Tony Award-winning play that focuses on the meaning of art (in the form of a solid white painting) as well as the meaning of friendship, to both the man who bought the painting and the two friends who come to see it."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0571190146
• ISBN13: 9780571190140
• Release Date: March 1997
• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Length: 80 Pages
• Weight: 0.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.0" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

"Art" is dark, humorous, and subtle.

This play revolves around three friends, Serge, Marc, and Yvan. All three men are educated and successful, and recently Serge has bought a piece of Art featuring white diagonal lines across a white canvas. Serge is very pleased with his expensive purchase, however Marc has different sentiments. They each confer with their mutual friend Yvan, and again with each other and eventually all together. Disagreements over whether or not the art is any good, or even art at all, begins to divide the friends. What makes this play incredible is the way Yasmina Reza captures the subtle human attitudes and emotions that are hidden in our language and the way we interact with one another. To just hear a story about three friends who disagree about the quality of a piece of art would be a bore, but when it is told with the kind of sharp and realistic dialogue that Reza has written, it comes alive. Reza creates an intimacy between the audience and her characters by assigning all three characters short soliloquies throughout the play, so we as readers/an audience understand what each man is thinking as they interact with each other. Anyone who has experienced a serious argument with a close friend can appreciate the realism of Reza's work. Those who are not looking for something dramatic can also appreciate the dark humor that present throughout the play. I would recommend this play to just about anyone.

An intelligent, witty, thought provoking play!

This is an exciting play about friendship and art that moves along at an animated pace from start to finish. As I started reading the play, I had an immediate positive reaction to it, and was swept along by its delightful dialogue. While the play does deal with the question of "What is art?" it does so in a humorous (not pedantic) way through the characters' relationships with one another. The ideas about art are explored in the context of friendship, and ulitmately, I think, the subject of friendship is central to the play. Reza explores the idea: Are we who we are as defined by others, or as defined by ourselves; and further, do we value friendships based on our definition of who the other person is, or on the other person's definition of him or herself? The ideas Reza explores are somewhat reminiscent of Sartre's play "No Exit," but don't make too much of the comparison, since Reza's style and approach is very different, and the situation in which the characters find themselves is a realistic one. Anyone who likes plays about ideas and plays about character will enjoy this fresh, witty play.

hilariously funny and insightful

This play is so well-written that right after seeing it performed I went out and bought the play and reread it--that very night. Yasmina Reza has a startling wit and beautiful timing. This is truly a must-read; also, check out her play, "The Unexpected Man." I highly reccommend that as well!

Art and the Mentor

A deceptively simple masterpiece,Ms.Reza uses art that is the most difficult to agree upon, abstract, as the device around the equally ambiguous territory of the mentor and his understudy. What happens when the understudy graduates by purchasing a work of art without the authority's prior "consent" is just the beginning and as is often the case, Ivan, the innocent bystander is drawn into the play as friends often are, expected to be judge and jury between friends. Perhaps being an abstract, visual artist gives me the knowledge of the "big surprise bang" at the end of the play as it becomes clear that Mark not only understood but was moved by the painting all along and what ensued was not,in fact, that he thought Serge made a collossal mistake, but a man whose own ego couldn't bear what a beautiful purchase Serge was able to make without his assistance. Mark's view of the painting at the end is not possible to suddenly see, but the vision of an erudite man who knew this from the moment he betrayed his friend and "student" by not congratulating him in the first place. This may give it away, but it's better than not getting the truthful, devastating twist the ending of "Art" actually delivers, especially from an artistic perspetive.

"ART" imitates life

"ART" lives up to its Tony-winning reputation, at least on the book level. The text examines the results of the seemingly innocuous act of buying a painting and the impact it has on the lives of three male friends. While much is made of the fact that the painting itself is only a white canvas with some vertical lines, its fascinating to observe Yasmina Reza making the point, almost subliminally, that art itself (let alone the question of art) has the power to unify or divide with equal fierceness simply by existing. The discussions these men foist based on the conflict of buying an expensive painting that needs interpreting are incisive and thought-provoking. I don't feel, as some have, that the play is ultimately about friendship among men, though that is certainly an element. But all great works of "ART" are open to discussion.