Items related to Adolf Loos A Private Portrait
Synopsis
Adolf Loos—A Private Portrait is an unusual, literary biography featuring lively, often humorous, “snapshots” of Viennese-Czechoslovak architect Adolf Loos.
"A valuable fine-grained portrait… The English translation of her book is fluent and accurate, conveying well the tone of Claire Loos’ original (which, in turn, to some extent mimics Loos’ own writing style). Richly informative."
—Christopher Long, West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture
"Claire Beck Loos, a gifted photographer and writer, … reveals much about her ex-husband’s mercurial persona in a series of conversationally-toned vignettes …. Claire died tragically at 38, at the Riga concentration camp; her memoir thus becomes a haunting tribute not only to Loos's talents, but to her own.."
—Judy Pollan, Modernism Magazine
An intimate collection of vignettes reveals Loos’ personality, temperament and philosophy during the last years of his life (1929-1933) and the ways in which he helped shape Modern architecture. This translation, by Constance C. Pontasch and Nicholas Saunders, is the first English edition, the book having enjoyed several reprints in German.
The author, Claire Beck Loos, was a photographer and Adolf Loos’ last wife. She was born in 1904 in Czechoslovakia; her family were Jewish industrialists and important early clients of Loos, commissioning several apartments in Pilsen and works by the architect’s friend Oskar Kokoschka. In addition to being a biography of her husband, Adolf Loos—A Private Portrait also serves as a self-portrait of Claire, a vibrant young artist who died a tragic and untimely death at Riga, a Nazi concentration camp, in 1942. The book includes supplemental texts by Claire’s niece Janet Beck Wilson, biographical materials and previously unpublished artistic photographs by the author.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Claire Beck Loos: Claire Beck Loos (b. 1904 Pilsen, Czechoslovakia; d. 1942 Riga) studied photography at the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt in Vienna, was a photographer and writer. She worked in photographer Hede Pollak's atelier in Prague. She married Adolf Loos and is best known for her portraiture of him. She died in the Holocaust.
Carrie Paterson: Carrie Paterson is an artist and writer who lives in Los Angeles. She writes for contemporary art journals and has her own publishing company, DoppelHouse Press. She is the grand-niece of Claire Beck Loos.
Janet Beck Wilson: Janet Beck Wilson is a writer and former Rock and Roll zine editor. She is the niece of Claire Beck Loos.
Carrie Paterson: Carrie Paterson is an artist and writer who lives in Los Angeles. She writes for contemporary art journals and has her own publishing company, DoppelHouse Press. She is the grand-niece of Claire Beck Loos.
Janet Beck Wilson: Janet Beck Wilson is a writer and former Rock and Roll zine editor. She is the niece of Claire Beck Loos.
From the Back Cover
SHIMMERING FISH
The construction of the Müller house is still in the very early stages. Dr. Müller has taken Loos to the construction site for a meeting. Loos stands between some beams and points to a location. "Here," he says, "is where the illuminated aquarium with the fish will be." No one understands him. The client wants to move on – there are so many important things to discuss. But Loos remains still, unconcerned, and continues: "This will be the favorite place of the master of the house; when he comes home in the evening tired from work, he will watch the fish silently playing. In the light of the lamps they will shimmer in all colours." The client is already getting very annoyed, but Loos does not let it bother him. He the only one who does not see the boards and scaffolds but rather the finished house – talks today only of the shimmering fish.
From the Inside Flap
The early Modern architect Adolf Loos (Brno, 1870-Vienna, 1933) was a cultural reformer and revolutionary. His clients included writers and artists, among them Tristan Tzara, Josephine Baker, and his close friends Peter Altenberg, Arnold Schönberg, and Karl Kraus. His students including Rudolf Schindler, Richard Neutra, Heinrich Kulka, Jacques Groag, Giussepe De Finetti, and Zladko Neumann impacted architecture in the United States, New Zealand, and across Europe.
During his lifetime, Loos designed, built, and remodeled close to one hundred apartments and homes, and undertook large civic projects like schools, government buildings, and workers housing. He revolutionized architecture with his innovation of spatial design, the Raumplan. To this day Loos works remain tourist attractions cafés, bars, and shops can be visited in Vienna; as well, several homes including the Villa Müller and the Khuner House, are open to the public. Over a century after he began to work, the ideas embodied in his architecture and writing remain of vital interest.
BACK FLAP:
Claire Beck Loos was the last wife of the great Modern master. She was a photographer and writer, born in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia in 1904. Her immediate and extended families were significant early clients of Loos.
Claire Beck Loos intimate knowledge of the man and the architect are captured here in lively, often-humorous vignettes. More like snapshots than historiography, the contents of her book will be revealing to all those with an interest in the architect and his era. Proclaimed as valuable, and a document humain by the Viennese Neue Freie Presse in 1935, the book was meant to raise funds for Loos tomb, and has since become a literary memorial. It is also a self-portrait of a rebellious young woman whose untimely death reverberates with the weight of history.
Adolf Loos A Private Portrait is the first English edition of the book that has already enjoyed several reprints in German. It provides new information about Adolf Loos personal life, his cultural milieu, and the personality that helped to shape early Modern architecture.
During his lifetime, Loos designed, built, and remodeled close to one hundred apartments and homes, and undertook large civic projects like schools, government buildings, and workers housing. He revolutionized architecture with his innovation of spatial design, the Raumplan. To this day Loos works remain tourist attractions cafés, bars, and shops can be visited in Vienna; as well, several homes including the Villa Müller and the Khuner House, are open to the public. Over a century after he began to work, the ideas embodied in his architecture and writing remain of vital interest.
BACK FLAP:
Claire Beck Loos was the last wife of the great Modern master. She was a photographer and writer, born in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia in 1904. Her immediate and extended families were significant early clients of Loos.
Claire Beck Loos intimate knowledge of the man and the architect are captured here in lively, often-humorous vignettes. More like snapshots than historiography, the contents of her book will be revealing to all those with an interest in the architect and his era. Proclaimed as valuable, and a document humain by the Viennese Neue Freie Presse in 1935, the book was meant to raise funds for Loos tomb, and has since become a literary memorial. It is also a self-portrait of a rebellious young woman whose untimely death reverberates with the weight of history.
Adolf Loos A Private Portrait is the first English edition of the book that has already enjoyed several reprints in German. It provides new information about Adolf Loos personal life, his cultural milieu, and the personality that helped to shape early Modern architecture.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
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Adolf Loos: A Private Portrait
Published by
Doppel House, Los Angeles, 2011
ISBN 10: 0983254001
ISBN 13: 9780983254003
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Pistil Books Online, IOBA, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hard Cover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. A clean, unmarked book with a tight binding. 200 pages. Seller Inventory # 148451
Quantity: 1 available