Monday Mix: Biographies in Visual Art
--by Hanje Richards
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These books and movies are part of the Copper Queen Library Biography Collection and showcase the lives of some of the world's greatest visual artists.
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Ansel Adams - Portrait of a great artist and ardent environmentalist for whom life and art, photography and wilderness, creativity and communication, love and expression, were inextricably connected. [DVD]
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Chag
all - “When Matisse dies,” Pablo Picasso remarked in the 1950s, “Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is.” As a pioneer of modernism and one of the greatest figurative artists of the twentieth century, Marc Chagall achieved fame and fortune and over the course of a long career created some of the best-known and most-loved paintings of our time. Yet behind this triumph lay struggle, heartbreak, bitterness, frustration, lost love, exile – and, above all, the miracle of survival. [BOOK]
all - “When Matisse dies,” Pablo Picasso remarked in the 1950s, “Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is.” As a pioneer of modernism and one of the greatest figurative artists of the twentieth century, Marc Chagall achieved fame and fortune and over the course of a long career created some of the best-known and most-loved paintings of our time. Yet behind this triumph lay struggle, heartbreak, bitterness, frustration, lost love, exile – and, above all, the miracle of survival. [BOOK] .
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..Beyond the Flower: The Autobiography of a Feminist Artist - This detailed portrait of the evolution of internationally renowned artist, writer, and feminist Judy Chicago – creator of The Dinner Party and Holocaust Project – lifts the veil of the public persona she has become and reveals Chicago's personal struggles as an artist and feminist in late 20th-century America. [BOOK]
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Crumb - A hilarious and mysterious journey through artistic genius and sexual obsession, Crumb is a wild ride through the mind of Robert Crumb; creator of "Zap Comix," "Mr. Natural," and "Fritz the Cat." Crumb enters a territory as spooky as it is fascinating... a portrait of the artist as misanthrope, as bad-boy visionary, as joker and sex maniac and, finally, as hero. This is one of those rare film experiences that has the giddy effect of being a nightmare and a party at the same time. [DVD]
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de Kooning: An American Master - Captures both the life and work of this comp
lex, romantic figure in American culture. The young de Kooning overcame an unstable, impoverished, and often violent early family life to enter the Academie in Rotterdam, where he learned both classic art and guild techniques. Arriving in New York as a stowaway from Holland in 1926, he underwent a long struggle to become a painter and an American, developing a passionate friendship with his fellow immigrant Arshile Gorky, who was both a mentor and an inspiration. During the Depression, de Kooning emerged as a central figure in the bohemian world of downtown New York, surviving by doing commercial work and painting murals for the WPA. His first show at the Egan Gallery in 1948 was a revelation. Soon, the critics Harold Rosenberg and Thomas Hess were championing his work, and de Kooning took his place as the charismatic leader of the New York school – just as American art began to dominate the international scene. [BOOK]
lex, romantic figure in American culture. The young de Kooning overcame an unstable, impoverished, and often violent early family life to enter the Academie in Rotterdam, where he learned both classic art and guild techniques. Arriving in New York as a stowaway from Holland in 1926, he underwent a long struggle to become a painter and an American, developing a passionate friendship with his fellow immigrant Arshile Gorky, who was both a mentor and an inspiration. During the Depression, de Kooning emerged as a central figure in the bohemian world of downtown New York, surviving by doing commercial work and painting murals for the WPA. His first show at the Egan Gallery in 1948 was a revelation. Soon, the critics Harold Rosenberg and Thomas Hess were championing his work, and de Kooning took his place as the charismatic leader of the New York school – just as American art began to dominate the international scene. [BOOK].
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Elaine and Bill, Portrait of a Marriage: The Lives of Willem and Elaine de Kooning - An insider's intimate account of the marriage of American postwar art icons Willem and Elaine de Kooning offers readers a true tale of love, sex, obsession, and artistic genius. [BOOK]
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Walker Eva
ns - The Depression-era photographs of Walker Evans (1903-1975) remain some of the most indelible and iconic images in the American consciousness. James R. Mellow's landmark biography of Evans – the first to make use of all his diaries, letters, work logs, and contact sheets – shows that Evans was not the social propagandist that many presume, but rather a fastidious observer, recording, simply, the way things were. Walker Evans is not only one of the most finely wrought portraits of a major American artist ever, it is also a fascinating cultural history of America in the 1930s and '40s. [BOOK]
ns - The Depression-era photographs of Walker Evans (1903-1975) remain some of the most indelible and iconic images in the American consciousness. James R. Mellow's landmark biography of Evans – the first to make use of all his diaries, letters, work logs, and contact sheets – shows that Evans was not the social propagandist that many presume, but rather a fastidious observer, recording, simply, the way things were. Walker Evans is not only one of the most finely wrought portraits of a major American artist ever, it is also a fascinating cultural history of America in the 1930s and '40s. [BOOK].
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Paul G
auguin - This biography dismantles the cherished legend about the artist's transformation from Euro-businessman to Tahitian noble savage, an alluring myth attributable in great part to Gauguin himself. It also emphasizes the importance of Gauguin's early childhood, which was spent in Peru under the protection of his great-uncle, the last Spanish viceroy. It was this interlude that shaped Gauguin's sense of self, non-European aesthetics, and obsession with regaining a lost paradise. Another curious aspect of Gauguin's life was his relationships with unconventional women, from his famous socialist-feminist grandmother to his resilient mother and mannish wife. This is a portrait of Gauguin as a perpetual outsider fueled by contradictory passions and driven halfway around the world by his need to make art. [BOOK]
auguin - This biography dismantles the cherished legend about the artist's transformation from Euro-businessman to Tahitian noble savage, an alluring myth attributable in great part to Gauguin himself. It also emphasizes the importance of Gauguin's early childhood, which was spent in Peru under the protection of his great-uncle, the last Spanish viceroy. It was this interlude that shaped Gauguin's sense of self, non-European aesthetics, and obsession with regaining a lost paradise. Another curious aspect of Gauguin's life was his relationships with unconventional women, from his famous socialist-feminist grandmother to his resilient mother and mannish wife. This is a portrait of Gauguin as a perpetual outsider fueled by contradictory passions and driven halfway around the world by his need to make art. [BOOK].
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iacometti - Alberto Giacometti's visionary sculptures and paintings form a testament to the artist's intriguing life story. From modest beginnings in a Swiss village, Giacometti went on to flourish in the picturesque milieu of prewar Paris and then to achieve international acclaim in the 1950s and ‘60s. Picasso, Balthus, Samuel Beckett, Stravinsky and Sartre have parts in his story, along with flamboyant art dealers, whores, shady drifters, unscrupulous collectors, poets and thieves. Women were a complex yet important element of his life – particularly his wife, Annette, and his last mistress and model, Caroline – as was the intimate relationship he shared with his brother Diego, who was both Alberto's confidant and collaborator. [BOOK]
iacometti - Alberto Giacometti's visionary sculptures and paintings form a testament to the artist's intriguing life story. From modest beginnings in a Swiss village, Giacometti went on to flourish in the picturesque milieu of prewar Paris and then to achieve international acclaim in the 1950s and ‘60s. Picasso, Balthus, Samuel Beckett, Stravinsky and Sartre have parts in his story, along with flamboyant art dealers, whores, shady drifters, unscrupulous collectors, poets and thieves. Women were a complex yet important element of his life – particularly his wife, Annette, and his last mistress and model, Caroline – as was the intimate relationship he shared with his brother Diego, who was both Alberto's confidant and collaborator. [BOOK].
Frida - A product of humble beginnings, Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek) earns fame as a talented artist with a unique vision. And from her enduring relationship with her mentor and husband, Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina), to her scandalous affairs, Frida's uncompromising personality would inspire her greatest creations! [DVD]
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The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo - This film explores the 20th-century icon who became an international sensation in the worlds of modern art and radical politics. Among those interviewed in the documentary are Carlos Fuentes and Carlos Monsivais. The film is narrated by Rita Moreno; Mexican singer Lila Downs is the voice of Frida Kahlo. [DVD]
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Annie Leibovitz: 
Life Through a Lens - Traces the arc of Annie's photographic life, her aspirations to artistry and the trajectory of her career. The film depicts the various phases that shaped her life including childhood, the tumultuous ‘60s, her transition from Rolling Stone to Vanity Fair magazine and later her most significant personal relationships, including motherhood. The documentary's highlights center on interviews with her most famous subjects, mentors and colleagues, along with personal insight from Leibovitz herself, to reveal the evolution of inarguably one of today's most influential visual artists. [DVD]
Life Through a Lens - Traces the arc of Annie's photographic life, her aspirations to artistry and the trajectory of her career. The film depicts the various phases that shaped her life including childhood, the tumultuous ‘60s, her transition from Rolling Stone to Vanity Fair magazine and later her most significant personal relationships, including motherhood. The documentary's highlights center on interviews with her most famous subjects, mentors and colleagues, along with personal insight from Leibovitz herself, to reveal the evolution of inarguably one of today's most influential visual artists. [DVD].
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What Remai
ns: The Life and Work of Sally Mann - Sally Mann creates artwork that challenges viewers' values and moral attitudes. Described by Time magazine as "America's greatest photographer," she first came to international prominence in 1992 with Immediate Family, a series of complex and enigmatic pictures of her three children. What Remains – Mann's recent series on the myriad aspects of death and decay – is the subject of this eponymously titled documentary.
ns: The Life and Work of Sally Mann - Sally Mann creates artwork that challenges viewers' values and moral attitudes. Described by Time magazine as "America's greatest photographer," she first came to international prominence in 1992 with Immediate Family, a series of complex and enigmatic pictures of her three children. What Remains – Mann's recent series on the myriad aspects of death and decay – is the subject of this eponymously titled documentary..
Filmed at her Virginia farm, Mann is surrounded by her husband and now-grown children, and her willingness to reveal her artistic process allows the viewer to gain exclusive entrance to her world. Never one to compromise, she reflects on her own personal feelings about mortality as she continues to examine the boundaries of contemporary art. Spanning five years, What Remains contains unbridled access to the many stages of Mann's work and is a rare glimpse of an eloquent and brilliant artist. [DVD]
Filmed at her Virginia farm, Mann is surrounded by her husband and now-grown children, and her willingness to reveal her artistic process allows the viewer to gain exclusive entrance to her world. Never one to compromise, she reflects on her own personal feelings about mortality as she continues to examine the boundaries of contemporary art. Spanning five years, What Remains contains unbridled access to the many stages of Mann's work and is a rare glimpse of an eloquent and brilliant artist. [DVD]
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Just Ki
ds - Patti Smith would evolve as a poet and performer, and Robert Mapplethorpe would direct his highly provocative style toward photography. Bound in innocence and enthusiasm, they traversed the city from Coney Island to Forty-second Street, and eventually to the celebrated round table of Max's Kansas City, where the Andy Warhol contingent held court. In 1969, the pair set up camp at the Hotel Chelsea and soon entered a community of the famous and infamous – the influential artists of the day and the colorful fringe. It was a time of heightened awareness, when the worlds of poetry, rock and roll, art, and sexual politics were colliding and exploding. In this milieu, two kids made a pact to take care of each other. Scrappy, romantic, committed to create, and fueled by their mutual dreams and drives, they would prod and provide for one another during the hungry years. [BOOK]
ds - Patti Smith would evolve as a poet and performer, and Robert Mapplethorpe would direct his highly provocative style toward photography. Bound in innocence and enthusiasm, they traversed the city from Coney Island to Forty-second Street, and eventually to the celebrated round table of Max's Kansas City, where the Andy Warhol contingent held court. In 1969, the pair set up camp at the Hotel Chelsea and soon entered a community of the famous and infamous – the influential artists of the day and the colorful fringe. It was a time of heightened awareness, when the worlds of poetry, rock and roll, art, and sexual politics were colliding and exploding. In this milieu, two kids made a pact to take care of each other. Scrappy, romantic, committed to create, and fueled by their mutual dreams and drives, they would prod and provide for one another during the hungry years. [BOOK].
Mapplethorpe 
- With Robert Mapplethorpe's full endorsement and encouragement, Morrisroe interviewed more than 300 friends, lovers, family members, and critics to form this definitive biography of America's most censored and celebrated photographer, whose work offsets with luminous elegance and compositional rigor its sometimes shocking content: not only absurdly lush blossoms and haughty socialites but also male nudes and explicit s-m scenes that reflected his own obsessive forays into the Manhattan underworld. The book explores his rise in the vital art world of 1970s Manhattan as well as his bond with rocker Patti Smith, whom Dali described as "a Gothic crow"; his sometimes loving, sometimes mutually exploitative relationship with his lover and patron, Sam Wagstaff; and the moving coincidence of his greatest critical successes occurring with the insidious and slow depredations of his illness. [BOOK]
- With Robert Mapplethorpe's full endorsement and encouragement, Morrisroe interviewed more than 300 friends, lovers, family members, and critics to form this definitive biography of America's most censored and celebrated photographer, whose work offsets with luminous elegance and compositional rigor its sometimes shocking content: not only absurdly lush blossoms and haughty socialites but also male nudes and explicit s-m scenes that reflected his own obsessive forays into the Manhattan underworld. The book explores his rise in the vital art world of 1970s Manhattan as well as his bond with rocker Patti Smith, whom Dali described as "a Gothic crow"; his sometimes loving, sometimes mutually exploitative relationship with his lover and patron, Sam Wagstaff; and the moving coincidence of his greatest critical successes occurring with the insidious and slow depredations of his illness. [BOOK].
The Unknown Ma
tisse : A Life of Henri Matisse – “Matisse was born in 1869 in northern France and grew up in Bohain-en-Vermandois, near the Belgian border, on the drab, cold, wet beet fields of French Flanders. The same area, culturally and geographically speaking, had produced Vincent van Gogh sixteen years before.” Thus begins the first full biography of an artist who, more than any other, is associated with Mediterranean heat, brilliant color and light, and languid, luxurious interiors. As author Hilary Spurling points out, an open window is one of Matisse's frequent motifs. Given the climate of his youth, that image speaks more of escape than of the sea air of the French Riviera. [BOOK]
tisse : A Life of Henri Matisse – “Matisse was born in 1869 in northern France and grew up in Bohain-en-Vermandois, near the Belgian border, on the drab, cold, wet beet fields of French Flanders. The same area, culturally and geographically speaking, had produced Vincent van Gogh sixteen years before.” Thus begins the first full biography of an artist who, more than any other, is associated with Mediterranean heat, brilliant color and light, and languid, luxurious interiors. As author Hilary Spurling points out, an open window is one of Matisse's frequent motifs. Given the climate of his youth, that image speaks more of escape than of the sea air of the French Riviera. [BOOK].
Matisse th
e Master : A Life of Henri Matisse, the Conquest of Colour, 1909-1954 - At 40, Matisse found himself with both the freedom to paint and the burden of a reputation that drew enemies, disciples, and skeptics into his working life. This shift from obscurity to notoriety had less impact on Matisse's work than on his personal relationships, especially his marriage to the single-minded Amélie, a bond that became saturated, for better and worse, with his achievements. Matisse's other relationships – with his daughter, Marguerite, his son, Pierre, his model and factotum Lydia Dylectorskaya and his patron Etta Cone among others – were likewise compounded of dedication and turmoil. The work, meanwhile, took its own course, whether mutating through a single epic piece or proliferating in new media, through two world wars and an absolute transformation in the tenets of and expectations for art. [BOOK]
e Master : A Life of Henri Matisse, the Conquest of Colour, 1909-1954 - At 40, Matisse found himself with both the freedom to paint and the burden of a reputation that drew enemies, disciples, and skeptics into his working life. This shift from obscurity to notoriety had less impact on Matisse's work than on his personal relationships, especially his marriage to the single-minded Amélie, a bond that became saturated, for better and worse, with his achievements. Matisse's other relationships – with his daughter, Marguerite, his son, Pierre, his model and factotum Lydia Dylectorskaya and his patron Etta Cone among others – were likewise compounded of dedication and turmoil. The work, meanwhile, took its own course, whether mutating through a single epic piece or proliferating in new media, through two world wars and an absolute transformation in the tenets of and expectations for art. [BOOK].
Portrait 
of an Artist: A Biography of Georgia O’Keeffe - Georgia O'Keeffe, one of the most original painters America has ever produced, left behind a remarkable legacy when she died at the age of ninety-eight. Her vivid visual vocabulary – sensuous flowers, bleached bones against red sky and earth – had a stunning, profound, and lasting influence on American art in this century. .O'Keeffe's personal mystique is as intriguing and enduring as her bold, brilliant canvases. Here is the first full account of her exceptional life - from her girlhood and early days as a controversial art teacher... to her discovery by the pioneering photographer of the New York avant-garde, Alfred Stieglitz... to her seclusion in the New Mexico desert, where she lived until her death.
of an Artist: A Biography of Georgia O’Keeffe - Georgia O'Keeffe, one of the most original painters America has ever produced, left behind a remarkable legacy when she died at the age of ninety-eight. Her vivid visual vocabulary – sensuous flowers, bleached bones against red sky and earth – had a stunning, profound, and lasting influence on American art in this century. .O'Keeffe's personal mystique is as intriguing and enduring as her bold, brilliant canvases. Here is the first full account of her exceptional life - from her girlhood and early days as a controversial art teacher... to her discovery by the pioneering photographer of the New York avant-garde, Alfred Stieglitz... to her seclusion in the New Mexico desert, where she lived until her death. .
And here is the story of a great romance - between the extraordinary painter and her much older mentor, lover, and husband, Alfred Stieglitz.
And here is the story of a great romance - between the extraordinary painter and her much older mentor, lover, and husband, Alfred Stieglitz.
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Renowned for her fierce independence, iron determination, and unique artistic vision, Georgia O'Keeffe is a twentieth-century legend. Her dazzling career spans virtually the entire history modern art in America. [BOOK]
Renowned for her fierce independence, iron determination, and unique artistic vision, Georgia O'Keeffe is a twentieth-century legend. Her dazzling career spans virtually the entire history modern art in America. [BOOK]
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Jackson Poll
ock: An American Saga - Jackson Pollock was more than a great artist; he was a creative force of nature. He changed not only the course of Western art, but our very definition of "art." He was the quintessential tortured genius, an American Vincent van Gogh, cut from the same unconforming cloth as his contemporaries Ernest Hemingway and James Dean – and tormented by the same demons; a "cowboy artist" who rose from obscurity to take his place among the titans of modern art, and whose paintings now command millions of dollars.
ock: An American Saga - Jackson Pollock was more than a great artist; he was a creative force of nature. He changed not only the course of Western art, but our very definition of "art." He was the quintessential tortured genius, an American Vincent van Gogh, cut from the same unconforming cloth as his contemporaries Ernest Hemingway and James Dean – and tormented by the same demons; a "cowboy artist" who rose from obscurity to take his place among the titans of modern art, and whose paintings now command millions of dollars. .
Here, for the first time, is the life behind that extraordinary achievement – the disjointed childhood, the sibling rivalry, the sexual ambiguity, and the artistic frustration out of which both artist and art developed. [BOOK]
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Pollock - 
The film begins in 1941 when Pollock (Ed Harris) meets Krasner, who encourages him and attracts the attention of supportive critic Clement Greenberg (Jeffrey Tambor) and benefactor Peggy Guggenheim (Amy Madigan). As Pollock rises from obscurity to international acclaim, Harris brings careful balance to his portrayal of a driven creator who found peace during those brief, sober periods when art brought release from his tenacious inner demons. The film offers sympathy without sentiment, appreciation without misguided hagiography. As an acting showcase it's utterly captivating. As a compassionate but unflinching exploration of Jackson Pollock's intimate world, there's no doubt that Harris captured the essence of a man whose life was as torturous as his art was redeeming. [DVD]
The film begins in 1941 when Pollock (Ed Harris) meets Krasner, who encourages him and attracts the attention of supportive critic Clement Greenberg (Jeffrey Tambor) and benefactor Peggy Guggenheim (Amy Madigan). As Pollock rises from obscurity to international acclaim, Harris brings careful balance to his portrayal of a driven creator who found peace during those brief, sober periods when art brought release from his tenacious inner demons. The film offers sympathy without sentiment, appreciation without misguided hagiography. As an acting showcase it's utterly captivating. As a compassionate but unflinching exploration of Jackson Pollock's intimate world, there's no doubt that Harris captured the essence of a man whose life was as torturous as his art was redeeming. [DVD].
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Man Ray: American Artist - Though he has been a staple in the French art scene from the expatriate 1920s on, Man Ray was born Emmanuel Radnitsky in Brooklyn. This book traces his American upbringing and his departure for Europe plus his work in painting, sculpture, photography, and filmmaking. Although he wasn't successful in all media, Man Ray nonetheless had his own style and vision. [BOOK]
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Dreaming With H
is Eyes Open: A Life of Diego Rivera - Patrick Marnham explores a character who was, in every sense, larger than life. We are introduced to the rural Mexico, full of mystery and turbulence, which shapes the enormously imaginative young Rivera's worldview – and a place that would remain his most enduring creative influence. We see the young apprentice leave Mexico for Spain on a government grant and then go on to Italy, where he first encounters the work of the great fresco painters that will change his life and art forever; to Paris, where he settles in Montparnasse at the epicenter of the legendary artistic circle living there at the time, including Picasso (both his great friend and his rival), Modigliani, Matisse, Léger, and Braque. Rivera travels to Moscow to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution and begin his lifelong flirtation with Communism. And by 1930, with his young wife, Frida Kahlo, Rivera finally makes his way to North America, where he is to work on three major mural projects – one of which, commissioned by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller for the new Rockefeller Center, will end in disaster and furious international controversy for the artist, and force his return to Mexico. [BOOK]
is Eyes Open: A Life of Diego Rivera - Patrick Marnham explores a character who was, in every sense, larger than life. We are introduced to the rural Mexico, full of mystery and turbulence, which shapes the enormously imaginative young Rivera's worldview – and a place that would remain his most enduring creative influence. We see the young apprentice leave Mexico for Spain on a government grant and then go on to Italy, where he first encounters the work of the great fresco painters that will change his life and art forever; to Paris, where he settles in Montparnasse at the epicenter of the legendary artistic circle living there at the time, including Picasso (both his great friend and his rival), Modigliani, Matisse, Léger, and Braque. Rivera travels to Moscow to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution and begin his lifelong flirtation with Communism. And by 1930, with his young wife, Frida Kahlo, Rivera finally makes his way to North America, where he is to work on three major mural projects – one of which, commissioned by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller for the new Rockefeller Center, will end in disaster and furious international controversy for the artist, and force his return to Mexico. [BOOK].
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Van Gogh: His Life and His Art - This shrewd biography fleshes out major and minor episodes in the troubled painter's erratic life and judges his work according to art scholarship of the past two decades. [BOOK]
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Andy Warhol - A portrait of the most famous and controversial artist of the second half of the twentieth century, this film explores the complete spectrum of Warhol's artistic output from the late 1940s to his death in 1987. [DVD]
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Eloquent Nud
e: The Love and Legacy of Edward Weston & Charis Wilson - "Edward Weston is considered one of the key pioneers of modern photography. Along with his circle of friends Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham and Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston would develop a modern aesthetic and shape American photography in the 20th Century. His sensuous and precise images would create a new way to look at landscapes, still lifes and the human form."
e: The Love and Legacy of Edward Weston & Charis Wilson - "Edward Weston is considered one of the key pioneers of modern photography. Along with his circle of friends Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham and Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston would develop a modern aesthetic and shape American photography in the 20th Century. His sensuous and precise images would create a new way to look at landscapes, still lifes and the human form.".
"Now age 90, Charis Wilson recounts her years with Weston with great humor, candor, and some regret. Combining insight from leading scholars, rare archival images, and convincingly authentic reenactments, Eloquent Nude presents a remarkable true story of love and loss, travel and adventure, and an intimate look at the making of modern photography." [DVD]
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