Ezanne Once Said, "One can only speak properly about painting in front of paintings." In Portraits, Michael Kimmelman, chief art critic for The New York Times, speaks with eighteen important artists in front of some of the world's best art.

His engaging, informal profiles of Balthus, Cindy Sherman, Chuck Close, Wayne Thiebaud, Brice Marden, Kiki Smith and others record not only what they said about the art they chose to look at in various museums and elsewhere but also what they revealed about themselves and their work in the process.