"The seaside resort towns and rural hamlets of the East End of Long Island, popularly known as the Hamptons, have served as havens for artists since the late nineteenth century. Today, the East End remains a thriving artists' colony, drawing painters, sculptors, photographers and performers who are attracted to the area's legendary coastal light, natural beauty, historic ambience, and rich cultural life.

Many renowned contemporary artists have established roots as full-time or part-time residents of the East End, either converting old cedar-shingled barns into studios and living spaces, renovating farmhouses and cottages, or custom-designing and building their own environments.".

"This book is an illustrated chronicle of the current artistic community of the East End - an insider's look at the homes and studios of luminaries such as Chuck Close, Robert Wilson, John Chamberlain, Larry Rivers, David Salle, April Gornik, Ross Bleckner, and Julian Schnabel, among others.

Bob Colatello's text traces the artistic legacy of the East End, from William Merritt Chase and his high-society circle in the nineteenth century through the bohemian Abstract Expressionists of the 1950s and up to the present, drawing on illuminating conversations with many of the artists featured in the book. In more than 230 color photographs, Jonathan Becker captures the personalities of the artists and takes us inside their environments, offering a glimpse of how they live and work.

This book is a must for anyone interested in the interwoven artistic, cultural, and social milieu of this legendary region."--BOOK JACKET.