Synopses & Reviews
How did Jackson Pollock become a cult figure for the Beat Generation? And what caused his reputation to continue to soar? This compelling and original Abrams classic, now back in print, locates the artist in the continuum of his times, recreating the social and cultural milieu of New York in the 1940s and 1950s. With extensive knowledge of Pollockand#8217;s habits (much of it gained through interviews), his reading, his conversation, and the exhibitions he visited, the author retraces many of the far-flung sources of Pollockand#8217;s work. A wealth of comparative photographs that illustrate paintings by artists Pollock admired further explains the work of this complex, tragic, and immeasurably influential figure. Pollockand#8217;s big, bold canvases are reproduced in five colors to convey the brilliance of his network of tones, his aluminum paint, and his sparkling collage materials. Six gatefolds show his vast horizontal works without distortion and a chronology provides a summary of the major events of Pollockand#8217;s life.
Synopsis
Piet Mondrianandrsquo;s rigorously geometric paintings in primary colors are icons of the 20th century that had a powerful impact on popular taste in art and design. This volume brings together more than 230 superb paintings with documentary images from the artistandrsquo;s life. The less-well-known work that Mondrian did in the 30 years before his breakthrough to abstractionandmdash;especially his landscape and fl ower paintingsandmdash;is remarkably beautiful, and to see it arranged chronologically is to enter the mind of an artist who is constantly looking for the next step that will take him from traditional realism to a universal vision of color and form. The book includes rare photographs of Mondrianandrsquo;s studios in Paris and New York City as well as reproductions of more than 1,000 known works of Mondrianandrsquo;s in black and white.and#160;
Synopsis
The enduring relevance of Dutch-born artist Piet Mondrian (1872andndash;1944) speaks to his pioneering role in abstract art, but also to the complex relationship between his artworks, the space around them, and the belief that they were conceived to inspire. His studios in Amsterdam, Paris, and New York refl ect di erent stages of the painterandrsquo;s way of thinking as well as his evolving intentions. Each studio was designed to allow the artist to perform a clearly defi ned intellectual and social role. An eye-opening look into the spaces that inspired him, this book also explores Mondrianandrsquo;s broader relationship with architecture and urbanism, particularly through a comparison of his earlier Parisian works and those made in the frenetic modern cityscape of New York. Vividly illustrated with many of Mondrianandrsquo;s best-known worksand photographs of the artist in his studios, this intriguing book sheds new light on his creative process.
About the Author
Ellen G. Landau is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University, where she has taught since 1982. She is also the author of Lee Krasner: A Catalogue Reaisonne, Reading Abstract Expressionism, and Artists for Victory, as well as many articles on twentieth-century American art.