This fascinating look at artists and their intimate partners takes nine well-known New Zealand couples and explores the many aspects of their lives—particularly how the presence of an artistic companion or soul mate impacts the art they produce. Combining the pleasures of gossip with information about how these artists have conducted their lives, this illuminates many of the themes found in the artists' paintings, poems, and films that revolve around their partners and the strains of producing serious art in a small and isolated country. The couples include Gil and Pat Hanly, Colin and Anne McCahon, Sylvia and Peter Siddell, Frances Hodgkins and D. K. Richmond, James K. Baxter and Jacquie Sturm, Kendrick Smithyman and Mary Stanley, Rudall and Ramai Hayward, Toss and Edith Woollaston, and Meg and Alister te Ariki Campbell. All told, nine painters, six poets, two filmmakers, and a photographer are included.