International Contemporary Masters XIII

It seems hard to believe, but here we are writing the introduction to the 13th Volume of International Contemporary Masters! And if we add our other art anthologies, this is the 25th volume to be published by World Wide Art Books, over a span of 13 years. In these books, we have presented the work of over 2,500 artists, from practically every country in the world, about half of these in the International Contemporary Masters series.

We have printed a total of over 150,000 books, and the total readership of all the digital books numbers in the tens of millions.

This is not a small achievement.

When we first started this endeavor, back in 2006, our mission was to create a year to year chronicle of noteworthy contemporary art being created all over the world. We considered that there are no more centers, no more dominant schools or doctrines or directions in art. No orthodoxies, no judges, no arbiters. Just a vast diversity. Democratic, or rather, anarchic. 

Our approach was simple: to present the work of noteworthy artists from all over the world. The word “noteworthy”, of course, contains a certain subjectivism. For us, it contains two main criteria: something original, an element of inspiration, vision, originality. And secondly, a mastery in the artist’s given medium. But beyond this, to present each artist’s work without comment, to let it speak for itself.

Thirteen years later, we think this approach is vindicated. The books have become a recognized standard, a resource for art professionals, collectors, art lovers and teachers.

We intend to continue on this path as long as we can, and we hope that when we can no longer do so, others will carry the torch forward.