Synopses & Reviews
When we look at a painting hanging on an art gallery wall, we see only what the artist has chosen to disclose--the finished work of art. What remains mysterious is the process of creation itself--the making of the work of art. Everyone who has looked at paintings has wondered about this, and numerous efforts have been made to discover and depict the creative method of important artists.
A Giacometti Portrait is a picture of one of the century's greatest artists at work.
James Lord sat for eighteen days while his friend Alberto Giamcometti did his portrait in oil. The artist painted, and the model recorded the sittings and took photographs of the work in its various stages. What emerged was an illumination of what it is to be an artist and what it was to be Giacometti--a portrait in prose of the man and his art. A work of great literarydistinction, A Giacometti Portrait is, above all, a subtle and important evocation of a great artist.
James Lord was an acclaimed American author who lived in France for many years. His books include Plausible Portraits of James Lord, Giacometti: A Biography, which was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and four volumes of memoirs. In recognition of his contribution to French culture, he was made an officer of the Legion of Honor. When we look at a painting hanging on an art gallery wall, we see only what the artist has chosen to disclosethe finished work of art. What remains mysterious is the process of creation itself: the making of the work of art. Everyone who has looked at paintings has wondered about this, and numerous efforts have been made to discover and depict the creative method of important artists. A Giacometti Portrait is a picture of one of the century's greatest artists at work.
James Lord sat for eighteen days while his Swiss friend Alberto Giamcometti (1901-1966) did his portrait in oil. The artist painted, and the model recorded the sittings and took photographs of the work in its various stages. What emerged was an illumination of what it is to be an artist and what it was to be Giacomettia portrait in prose of the man and his art. A work of great literary distinctionand a classic that first appeared in the mid-1960sA Giacometti Portrait is, above all, a subtle and important evocation of a great modern painter and sculptor.
"James Lord's timeless account . . . documents how torturous creation can be, even, or perhaps especially, for a creative genius."Jacqueline White, Ruminator Review
Review
"James Lord's timeless account . . . documents how torturous creation can be, even, or perhaps especially, for a creative genius." --Jacqueline White,
Ruminator Review
Synopsis
When we look at a painting hanging on an art gallery wall, we see only what the artist has chosen to disclose--the finished work of art. What remains mysterious is the process of creation itself--the making of the work of art. Everyone who has looked at paintings has wondered about this, and numerous efforts have been made to discover and depict the creative method of important artists.
A Giacometti Portrait is a picture of one of the century's greatest artists at work.
James Lord sat for eighteen days while his friend Alberto Giamcometti did his portrait in oil. The artist painted, and the model recorded the sittings and took photographs of the work in its various stages. What emerged was an illumination of what it is to be an artist and what it was to be Giacometti--a portrait in prose of the man and his art. A work of great literarydistinction, A Giacometti Portrait is, above all, a subtle and important evocation of a great artist.
Synopsis
A riveting life of the brilliant British artist, one of the greatest figurative painters of the 20th century.
Synopsis
Phoebe Hoban, author of definitive biographies of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Alice Neel, now turns her attention to Lucian Freud, the grandson of Sigmund and one of the greatest painters England has produced.
Lucian Freud: Eyes Wide Open is the first biography to assess Freud's work and life, showing how the two converge.
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In Hoban's dramatic and fast-paced narrative, we follow Freud from his birthplace in Berlin to London, where he fled with his family in the 1930s, and then to Paris, where he mixed with Picasso and Giacometti. He led a dissolute life in Soho after the war, gambling and womanizing with fierce energy. He painted his wives nude, his children nude, himself nude. He married twice, had an uncountable number of children, and kept working through it all, painting everyone from close friend and rival Francis Bacon to Kate Moss and Queen Elizabeth. He sometimes spent years on a single painting, which could require hundreds of hours of sittings. However various his subjects, his intent was always the same: to find and reveal the character hidden within by means of his intense visual imagination.
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Along with its startling biographical revelations, the great thrill of Lucian Freud: Eyes Wide Open is the way Hoban deconstructs the art itselfand#8212;its influences, models, and techniqueand#8212;to show how Freud reproduced reality on the canvas while breaking down the illusion that what we see is real.
About the Author
James Lord is an acclaimed American author who has lived in France for many years. His books include
Plausible Portraits of James Lord,
A Giacometti Portrait,
Giacometti: A Biography, and four volumes of memoirs. In recognition of his contribution to French culture, he was made an officer of the Legion of Honor.
Table of Contents
1.and#160;The Art of Lookingand#8195;and#8195;1
2.and#160;Learning to Be Lucianand#8195;and#8195;13
3.and#160;Women and Musesand#8195;and#8195;24
4.and#160;London Daysand#8195;and#8195;32
5.and#160;Beautiful Peopleand#8195;and#8195;45
6.and#160;Letting Goand#8195;and#8195;57
7.and#160;Carnal Knowledgeand#8195;and#8195;70
8.and#160;Channeling Courbetand#8195;and#8195;83
9.and#160;Intimations of Mortalityand#8195;and#8195;89
10.and#160;Bypassing Decorumand#8195;and#8195;95
11.and#160;New Viewsand#8195;and#8195;106
12.and#160;The Way of All Fleshand#8195;and#8195;112
13.and#160;Painting against Timeand#8195;and#8195;128
14.and#160;Not Going Gentlyand#8195;and#8195;135
15.and#160;Leaving the Studioand#8195;and#8195;144
Acknowledgementsand#8195;and#8195;153
Bibliographyand#8195;and#8195;155