An intense focus on the late and final work of greatpainters has become a striking trend in recent years.Exhibitions have been devoted to the Late' Raphael,Tintoretto, Rembrandt, Goya, Turner, Manet, Gauguin,Monet, Matisse and Pollock and fresh research has beencarried out into the work these artists produced in thetwilight of their careers. This has led in many cases tosurprising discoveries and a renewed appreciation ofthe late work.The Final Painting collects these fresh insights into30 of the world's greatest painters and their last worksin a highly readable book, beginning with Jan van Eyckand ending with Pablo Picasso. Besides the paintersmentioned already, it includes Bellini, Titian, Caravaggio,El Greco, Rubens, Artemisia Gentileschi, Cézanne, Klimt,Renoir, Modigliani, Munch, Mondrian, Kahlo and Hopper.Persistent myths and clichés are challenged: Van Goghwas not the solitary figure as so often suggested: the storybehind Raphael's celebrated La Fornarina was made upin the 19th century; the elderly Tintoretto did not paintmany of his huge late canvases single-handedly; andManet's last works are much more than the paintings ofa terminal patient.