From Botticelli to Bacon, artists have always invested their personalities in their working environments, but these private spaces, often containing the visible remains of artistic ingenuity, toil and torment, are usually kept behind firmly closed doors. Sanctuary gives a rare and privileged insight to the studios and inspirations of nearly 120 of Britain’s greatest living artists working today, both in Britain and abroad.

Sanctuary’s stellar cast of artists encompasses many different ways of thinking about and making art. This lavish, large-format book brims with specially commissioned photographs – portraits, images at work, places of inspiration – and incisive interviews: the artists open their minds as much as their studio doors. Sanctuary is full of insights, revelations and thoughts on the modern art world and contemporary art practice, giving a vivid sense of what it means to be an artist at work today.