Crossing centuries, continents and genres, Alex Johnson travelled the world examining the unique spaces, habits and rituals of over 50 famous artists to discover the eclectic creative spaces they used and the work habits they followed. How do they practise their craft? What do they look for in a studio? Do they work in silence or with music? In a shared space or in solitude? How do they harness the light? And how do their physical spaces affect and inspire their output?

His subjects include: Claude Monet, who famously created an inspirational garden in which to work ‘en plein air’ to paint his water lilies; Frida Kahlo, forced to work from her bed after a crippling accident and inspired by the lucky talismans with which she surrounded herself; Jean-Michel Basquiat, who worked in an old stable and could turn anything into canvas, walking and lying on his works as he created them; and Lee Krasner, whose art dramatically changed when she moved from her small studio into a larger, light-filled one that she took over when her husband, Jackson Pollock, died.