Restless Ambition: Grace Hartigan, Painter
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.79 (549 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0199394504 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 432 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-09-01 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
For art-bio readers Karla Grace Hartigan was never one of my preferred painters, Abstract Expressionist or otherwise. So I am probably disinclined to be excited by a book about her. But I did read it and it both lowered and increased my opinion of her. She was off-putting and rather mean. She made the most of her ability when she was young and painted some very lovely abstract paintings. Her later figurative paintings are of slight interest (to me and to art history.) She was a far better painter wh. "An artist who deserved this book" according to W. Patrick Sullivan. I'm not an artist or an art history major - but I like art and I like reading bios of artists. I was really excited to see this as I have always wanted to know more about Grace Hartigan - beyond her work there were a couple of pictures of her I had seen from the 1950's - always laughing and seemingly reallly enjoying life. In some ways I wish what my fantasies were more in line with reality - but the credit here goes to Curtis who does not sugarcoat a thing ---I read one re. excellent bio artone excellent bookit captures Grace's personality, paintings. friends, thoughts .all of it. the profane and the transcendentCurtis has documented the time period as wellI know this because I was there. carefully researched and descriptive down to the essence of conversations.
Two years later she moved to Baltimore, where she became legendary for her signature tough-love counsel to her art school students. Grace continued to paint throughout her life, seeking-for better or worse-something truer and fiercer than beauty.. She moved to New York in her early twenties and befriended Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and other artists who were pioneering Abstract Expressionism. Although praised for the coloristic brio of her abstract paintings, she began working figuratively, a move that was much criticized but ultimately vindicated when the Museum of Modern Art purchased her painting The Persian Jacket in 1953. Attempting to channel her vague ambitions after an early marriage, Grace struggled to master the basics of drawing in night-school classes. Featured in Time, Newsweek, Life, and Look, she was the only woman in MoMA's groundbreaking 12 Americ
With perceptiveness and vibrancy, Curtis powerfully conveys the passion, anguish, and intensity of Hartigan's life and work. --Booklist Reviews, February 2015. *Starred Review* With impressive knowledge, empathy, and zesty language, Curtis has written her first book, the first biography of Grace Hartigan (1922-2008), a volatile and determined painter