From babe to grandmother, Art
Lover chronicles the eccentric life of one of Modern Art’s
greatest patrons. Beginning with the death of her father on the Titanic,
her life was filled with drama. Husband and lovers that included some
of the most notable artists and literary figures of the 20th century,
her biography paints a portrait of a woman with many quirks some good,
many bad. I personally found this book to really gain steam around chapter
14 which, incidentally, is titled Turning Point. This is where her life
begins to take a deeper interest in modern art, surrealism and then
abstract expressionism. One of the interesting things about this book
is that it makes you realize how small the cream of the creative community
was, or maybe still is –worldwide. Everyone who was anyone knew
eachother or about eachother. And Peggy was right in the middle of it.
Art Lover is one of those rare books that lets you have fun while you’re
learning and I highly recommend it.
I have to admit that Making the Mummies
Dance is one of my favorite "art" books. Told to us by the
former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas Hoving, we
get to be the fly-on-the-wall while Mr. Hoving goes to meetings with
curatorial staff, cocktails with deep-pocketed donors and has canapés
with all the right people. Invited to the best parties and hearing about
them is a fun part of the book but the real meat and potatoes are the
conversations that take place both within the museum walls (a place
never without conflict so it seems) as well as outside with dealers,
artists, and various others all involved in the great game of search
and acquire.
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Life with Picasso follows the
relationship between the artist, Francoise Gilot, and the ten years
they were together. Very well written, the intimate details of Picasso’s
life, painting and personality could only come from someone who was
very close to him.
Francoise Gilot, an aspiring artist, came to know Picasso when she was
21 and he was 62. Although their relationship was not to endure, the
years they had together were to have a great impact on both of their
lives. Unlike Picasso’s former romantic relationships with Dora
Maar, Marie-Therese, first wife Olga, and his last wife Jacqueline,
Francoise was not utterly compliant to Picasso’s wishes. Picasso
was used to telling his women what to do and having them obey. Although
this created a strain in their relationship it was fortunate for Francoise
that she was able, not only to keep her sense of self, but that she
was to grow stronger for it, and went on to live a fulfilling life when
their relationship ended. Unlike Marie-Therese and Jacqueline who both
committed suicide and Dora Maar who went on to temporary insanity or
even Olga whose mental instability was of a more permanent nature.
Together Picasso and Gilot had two children, Paloma (of perfume fame)
and Claude. When this book was finished Picasso tried to block its publication.
It is interesting that thirty years later Francoise Gilot tried to do
the same when Merchant-Ivory wanted to do a film about the book. Because
of this the filmmakers went off Arianna Huffington’s book Picasso:
Creator and Destroyer. I have not read the Huffington book but
I have seen the movie Surviving Picasso (see movie section)
and it is similar to Gilot’s accounting of the years she and Picasso
were together.
Diana Vreeland was the most famous editor
in fashion magazine history. Known for her extreme make-up, (she went
heavy on what used to be called rouge) her unconventional sense
of style, and complete self-confidence in her eclectic ways, she was
one of those rare birds that could transcend her physical appearance,
once described by a New York publication as akin to a cigar- store wooden
Indian, into pure chic.
Born into a household of privilege, Diana (pronounced Dee-ana) lived
overseas much of her life. Although blessed with a place in society,
she realized she was slighted in the looks department early on when
her mother repeatedly told her that she was unattractive, sometimes
describing her as "an ugly, little monster." Curiously
enough, this didn’t really seem to impact her as much as you would
think such words from a mother would. In fact, she notes at one point
in her book, she wouldn’t change anything about her childhood.
And, with the exception of these remarks by her mother, her parents
did seem, as Diana herself would say, "a little bit all right."
Early on Diana came to terms with her looks and it was at this point
that she decided she wouldn't let them stand in her way. In fact, she
proclaimed to herself that she was, indeed, beautiful, a Goddess.
From then on she set about perfecting her character. She dressed beautifully,
if not surprisingly, and went on to refine the persona she was creating.
Married to Reed Vreeland, she raised two sons and it wasn’t until
she was well on her way as society housewife that she started working
at Harper’s Bazaar. Her first foray into writing came
by way of a small column called “Why Don’t You...”
which would go on to list frivolous and outrageous things you could
do fashion-wise, every month. The column was very popular and soon she
became the magazine’s fashion editor, working with such legendary
art directors and photographers as Louise Dahl-Wolfe and Alexey Brodovitch.
In fact, with the then editor-in-chief, Carmel Snow (a fashion icon
in her own right), the quartet was responsible for some of the most
beautiful and stylish magazine spreads of the last century.
After leaving Bazaar, Diana moved to Vogue, where she was Editor-in
Chief, and went on to be immortalized as the inspiration for the fictional
fashion editor in the movie Funny Face, the motto “Think
Pink!” a tribute to her own real life quote “Pink is the
Navy Blue of India.”
One of Diana’s biggest contributions to the fashion magazine was
taking the shot out of the studio. She was the first editor to send
her models and photographers to exotic locations such as Morocco, Tunisia,
and Tahiti, drawing on her own travels for inspiration.
After being let go by S.I. Newhouse of Conde Nast after years of service
and elevating the magazine to the status it still holds, Diana went
on to create another career for herself as consultant to the Costume
Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There she was responsible
for some of the biggest blockbuster fashion exhibits in the history
of the Met, including The Glory of Russian Costume, and
The World of Balenciaga.
This book is fun, fast, and totally
unorganized in its content. It sort of flips and flops to different
time periods, but very engaging. There seems to be an adventure around
every corner for Diana, so many, in fact, that you might begin to wonder
if they are all true. A journalist once pinned Diana down by asking
her if what she was saying was fact or fiction. Her response, after
a pause,...“faction.”
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