This is “This Is Pollock,” a beautifully produced, highly readable, witty, 80-page overview of the master abstract expressionist’s career written by Catherine Ingram and illustrated by Peter Arkle.

“This Is Pollock” is part of a series from Laurence King Publishing that takes a visual approach to telling the stories of famous artists. Ingram also wrote “This Is Dalí” and “This Is Warhol,” both of which were illustrated by Andrew Rae. Notwithstanding the irony that the works of these massively popular and influential artists had to be mediated through much more populist illustrations, these books are incredibly vibrant and alive, and make for a laudable alternative to traditional art history texts.

Later in the year “This Is Bacon” will be released, written by Kitty Hauser and illustrated by Christina Christoforou. I’ll be giving away at least one set of all of these books for the holidays.