Mark Rothko

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Katherine Hoffman

"Katherine Hoffman presents a comprehensive and provocative study of the life and work of the photographer, Alfred Stieglitz, focusing on the period from 1915 to his death in 1946, with some introductory material related to his early years. His work as photographer, editor, writer, and gallery director are explored in relationship to his personal biography and cultural milieu, presenting the complex tapestry that was Stieglitz's life and work.This book focuses on the American work, issues of identity, and the rise of Modernism in America. There is discussion of some of his photographs that are rarely illustrated or discussed, that give added dimension to an understanding of Stieglitz's total oeuvre. The newly opened letters along with the many other letters Stieglitz wrote, reveal him to be a man of "letters", as well as a man with a camera. His work as editor and writer of short articles, along with his letters illustrate a strong literary side of Stieglitz discussed in the book, that balanced his visual work.. Stieglitz's life and work may be seen as a significant continuum that progressed from his early European work to his final photographic images taken at Lake George, and in New York City. Stieglitz was a complicated and complex man, revered and idolized by a community of loyal followers, and at the same time despised and hated by some. As the critic Robert Hughes, has written of StieglitzBeyond the personality and the myths that have grown up around Stieglitz, some self-made, some through the power of the press,it is in the end, " the work," that is perhaps most important and enduring, It is that work, along with its fundamental ideas and inspirations, that is the focus of this book, illustrating that Stieglitz has, indeed, left a lasting legacy of light"--

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ed. and introduced by Nicholas Wadley

Paul Gauguin fled what he called "filthy Europe" in 1891 to what he hoped would be an unspoiled paradise, Tahiti. He painted 66 magnificent can vases during the first two years he spent there and kept notes from which he later wrote Noa Noa—a journal recording his thoughts and impressions of that time. Noa Noa—the most widely known of Gauguin's writings—is reproduced here from a rare early edition (1919), in a lucid translation capturing the artist's unpretentious style. Page after page reveals Gauguin's keen observations of Tahiti and its people, and his passionate struggle to achieve the inner harmony he expressed so profoundly on canvas. Gauguin's prose is as seductive as his paintings, filled with descriptions of warm seas, hidden lagoons, lush green forests, and beautiful Maori women. The journal is captivating reading, offering a compelling autobiographical fragment of the soul of a genius and a rare glimpse of Oceanian culture. The brief periods of happiness Gauguin found among the Tahitians are eloquently expressed in his narrative. We understand the motives that drove him and gain a deeper appreciation of his art. Today the manuscript provides unparalleled insight into Gauguin's thoughts as he strove to achieve spiritual peace, and into the wellsprings of a singular artistic style which changed the course of modern art. This wonderfully affordable edition—enhanced by 24 of Gauguin's South Seas drawings—makes a unique and passionate testament accessible to all art lovers.

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Enrica Crispino

Traces the brief and troubled life of van Gogh: his birth in a Dutch village, his travels in Belgium and England, his arrival in Impressionist Paris and his discovery of the delights of the south of France, where he died at 37. Shows how, in spite of suffering mental crises and inner turmoil, van Gogh always continued to search for ways of painting that expressed the true essence of his subjects.

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[sost. T.G. Petrovet͡s

Alphabetical entries that define artists, movements, and styles of the impressionist and post-impressionist art periods.