Doubly Gifted: The Author as Visual Artist - Hardcover

Kathleen Hjerter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810918420 ISBN 13: 9780810918429

Publisher: Henry Abrams, 1986

Synopsis

With 140 reproductions representing sixty-eight authors, this book exhibits the artwork of such great literary figures as William Blake, Charlotte Bronte, T.S. Eliot, William Faulkner, Herman Hesse, Victor Hugo, Henrik Ibsen, D.H. Lawrence, Edgar Allan Poe, and Tennessee Williams

About this title

Reviews

Along with such well-known examples as William Blake and Edward Lear, many famous writers have painted, drawn or sculpted, and even if the quality of their graphic work is eclipsed by their literary output, it nonetheless offers clues to their psyches. Poe's portrait of the woman he planned to marry the year he died aches with hypersensitivity. Anne Sexton's oil of a couple arguing is like a primal scream. Michener's painting Biography, a checkerboard of squares filled with personal symbols referring to events in his life, reflects his proclivity for cramming massive amounts of data into a narrative framework. Many of the 68 "doubly gifted" authors represented here turned out very good artwork. Notable examples are Gunter Grass's acid etchings, Breton's surrealist hallucinations and Hart Crane's somber painting of trees at nightfall. Pictures by Ibsen, Winston Churchill, George Sand, Wilde and Strindberg make for a rare, intriguing glimpse of the creative process. QPB alternate.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The interconnection between art and literature is explored in this intriguing work, which gathers together examples of the artwork of great literary figures. While the art of figures like William Blake and Edward Lear is well known, some examples will come as a surprise. The graphics of Faulkner and Poe are impressive, but other examples show no particular gift. Updike's enlightening foreword analyzes the special affinity between artists and writers, for whom, he says, "the tools are allied, the impulses are one." Sixty-nine authors are represented with 214 illustrations, quotations from the writings of each, and brief biographies. Long on visuals and short on text, the book leaves the reader wanting to know more about the artistic impulses of each author. It is, nevertheless, a fascinating collection. Daniel J. Lombardo, Jones Lib., Amherst, Mass.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Abrams
• Publication date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0810918420
• ISBN 13: 9780810918429
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 159