- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Universal Sales & Marketing; 1 edition (April 1991)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1557783365
- ISBN-13: 978-1557783363
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 567 g
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#1,532,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6 in Books > Arts & Photography > Artists, A-Z > ( M-O ) > Neel, Alice
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
When Alice Neel met Rhoda Medary in a Philadelphia art school in 1921, Neel was an outwardly conformist loner crushed by a dominant puritanical mother, while Medary, her friend and mentor, was an iconoclastic free spirit. But their lives went in diametrically different directions. Neel married a worldly Cuban painter, moved to Havana, abandoned him, then experienced life in Greenwich Village, several affairs, massive depressions, a suicide attempt, therapy. She raised two children in Spanish Harlem, turned to political leftism and enjoyed eventual fame. Medary, who married an autocratic architect, forsook art to raise children; her life a shambles after three decades of marriage, she rediscovered, in the years before her death in 1981, what Neel had learned much earlier--that painting was central to her identity. The Belchers, a husband-wife team--he's a history professor at Beaver College in Pennsylvania; she edited Medary's memoirs--have crafted a perceptive, compulsively readable dual biography that illuminates the struggles of women who try to break out of roles society expects them to fulfill. Photos.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Two artists, two friends, two very different lives"--from jacket flap, Oct 19 2005
By brainiacbooks - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Collecting Souls, Gathering Dust: The Struggles of Two American Artists (Hardcover)
A fascinating study of two women--close friends--who attended art school together, but whose paths then diverged widely. One woman, Alice Neel, became one of the greatest American painters of the 20th century. The other artist, Rhoda Medary, chose a different life as a housewife whose artworks remained obscure.How and why these two painters traveled their respective paths makes for illuminating reading, especially for today's woman artist. The issues these women grappled with are far from being resolved in contemporary society: how a woman balances a career with marriage and/or motherhood; how an artist responds to pressure from family and culture to conform; how to follow your dream but still pay your bills. Highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wish it were longer, May 24 2010
By american artist - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Collecting Souls, Gathering Dust: The Struggles of Two American Artists (Hardcover)
If this were a book about two male artists, it undoubtedly would have been much longer and more detailed.That said I love Alice Neel's work. She had the mindset to persue her obsession. This book connects on the human,the artistic and the female artist level. Hard to explain a life position such as this. As an artist I sympathize, as a female artist, I empathize.I knew sketchy details about Alice's life but, had no idea how everything fit together.
I also knew nothing of Rhoda Medary. This book did make me pick up the brush and finish a painting. I don't plan on being a Rhoda Medary.
5.0 out of 5 stars
interesting lives of 2 artists.., July 4 2010
By Sarah Schultz "avid reader" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Collecting Souls, Gathering Dust: The Struggles of Two American Artists (Hardcover)
I have enjoyed this book immensely !It ties together historical events with the lives of
these women. Kept my interest all the way through
to the end which could have otherwise been a very
dry biography.
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