Containing 114 reproductions of works ranging from Jackson Pollock's dynamic 1948 drip painting to Kehinde Wiley's 2006 hip-hop-meets-Old-Master portrait, Modern and Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is a handsome collection that offers art enthusiasts a chance to recall old favorites and discover hidden treasures and new acquisitions. Taken from the nationally recognized collection of the same name at the VMFA, the works presented here appear chronologically within the book's three sections--paintings; sculpture and video art; and prints, drawings, photographs, and...

Born in Chongqing, China, in 1955, Xu Bing is considered one of the most important artists of his generation. Between 1977 and 1987, he studied and taught at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing. He moved to the United States in 1990 and in 1999 received a MacArthur Fellowship, the celebrated -genius grant, - in recognition of his -capacity to contribute importantly to society, particularly in printmaking and calligraphy.- In 2008 Xu Bing was appointed vice president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and he now lives mostly in Beijing.

Many of Xu Bing's print and...