"Estelle Thompson is one of the most highly regarded abstract painters of her generation. In her latest works - many reproduced here for the first time - her rigorous pursuit of order in abstraction has led to the laying down of colour in bands that seem to pulsate with life, hovering above the ground on which they are painted, escaping any association with form. Denying the viewer a point of focus, dazzling the eye, Thompson's work appeals to the emotions as well as to the intellect. The effect is visceral: the viewer is pushed away by the vibrancy, yet seduced by the succulence of the colours." "Colour, above all, establishes the mood of each picture, in combinations that are complex and sometimes shockingly vivid. Her paintings are about light: light suggested, light contained, light reflected. Initially, Thompson saw her work, although abstract, as located within the Northern European landscape tradition; in her recent paintings, the references are broader, the placing less specific. This, the first monograph on one of the foremost figures in the contemporary art world, offers an authoritative critical text and full-colour reproductions of works from every stage of her career."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved