I Like What I Know: A Visual Autobiography by Vincent Price: book review

I Like What I Know: A Visual Autobiography (1959) is a memoir by American actor, Vincent Leonard Price (1911-1993), noted for his horror films and distinctive voice. But this is not about his roles in movies. Instead, it is about his love of art.

The title is from the saying: I don’t know anything about art, but I know what I like. To which Price comments, ‘There comes a time in life when you know what you like and have to make up your mind to like what you know.’

Price begins with his mother’s home, and the first time he ‘fell financially in love’ with art. His first art purchase at the age of 12 was ‘Two Nude Models, One Standing’ by Rembrandt (1606-1669). It cost $37.50, which took him a year to pay.

At the age of 16 he travelled alone to Europe for a ‘seven capitals in seven weeks’ tour in which he visited art galleries. He tells of Yale art school and his studies in London, before his first acting role in a Broadway show in 1935, as leading man to Helen Hayes.

Price writes of what he looks for when purchasing a piece of art, and his impression of art dealers, his favourite art galleries and museums, his brief period as a gallery owner, and his penchant for collecting works of art.

He writes about his love of art: the arts ‘stimulate, encourage, challenge, and most of all, guarantee a future free from boredom.’

Vincent Price’s memoir is a fascinating and well-written account of his view of art and how it evokes opinions, emotions, desire, and love. And in telling his of love of art it informs readers a lot about the man.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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