audiobook Ornamentation - A Question Answer Manual: For Intermediate to Advanced Piano by Carole Bigler; Valery Lloyd-Watts in Arts-Photography

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Looking at an EnigmaBy A. Miller; FloridaMany consider Modigliani the finest artist of the twentieth century. His paintings today sell for large sums of money. The irony is that Modiglianis personal life and career is that they had the trappings of a tormented man who squandered relationships and doomed himself to that of a tragic; tormented wasted life. The author Jeffrey Moyers gives a vivid portrait of a man who is not only doomed from tuberculosis; but also from his excesses-- alcohol; drugs; and women; whom he shamelessly mistreated. The comments on Modiglianis fellow artists; especially Picasso are incisive and often unexpected. But the most shocking was how Modigliani squandered Jeanne"s live; using her to keep his wasting body alive while wrenching the life from her.Meyers final chapter revealing Modis colleagues lives following his death gives a terrific closure to this biography... This is an excellent biography; well worth reading . Modis riviting death scene was worthy of grand opera. My only complaint is that the paintings are not in color.18 of 20 people found the following review helpful. Good but needs more photos!By Brian AsquithMeyers provides a wonderful insight into the harsh world; both mentally and physically; of Modigliani (Modi) and the art scene at the turn of 20th C Paris. Along with the tortured world of Modi; Meyers also offers bios of Modis contemporaries; art dealers and lovers...Soutine; Lipchitz; Brancusi; Utrillo; Derain; Picasso; Pascin; Gris; Severini; Kisling etc. And the lives of this lot wasnt all roses either; with a number of them coming to various grisly ends. However; many of them were to find varying degrees of fame during their lifetime. Alas for Modi that wasnt the case. Frequently on the verge of starvation; trading drawings for food; drink drugs; suffering from tuberculosis; charismatic while sober; menacing while drunk; he wouldnt back down and subscribe to any one of the various "isms" that were currently rife in Paris. He knew he had a unique style lurking within and belligerently strove to expose it. African art had a huge impact on his final style. And even when he managed to sell a painting (often bought out of pity) he would only accept a couple of francs even though the buyer was offering more.As with most artistic tragedies; Modi was ahead of his time. Towards the end of his life his pictures sold for approx 150 francs. Ten years later those same paintings commanded 500;000 francs. And today they exchange hands at auction for tens of millions of dollars; making Modis "unique" vision the most sought after compared with his contemporaries (Picasso aside).Meyers; through Modi and the other artists; provides good insight in to the squalid conditions that existed in Montmartre and Montparnasse. Modis charm and good looks certainly made him a hit with the ladies. He had a string of lovers and fathered a number of children also. His last love; Jeanne; jumped to her death 2 days after his.The book is flawed by the short supply of photos with only 23 works collected here; and they are in bw. Throughout the book Meyers provides descriptions of many of Modis works; but due to the scant selection provided I found myself looking elsewhere for images. "A picture is worth a 1000 words" is particularly apt here. Eventually; I found myself skimming over his descriptions as they were fairly arbitrary focusing on colours; body/head positions; which didnt lend anything to the story. I got the impression that maybe Meyers had intended to include a greater selection but possibly for cost cutting or copyright reasons that was curtailed close to publishing. Or hes just padding out the text. Also there appears to be one photograph and 1 painting that are titled differently to the text.This is the first book I have read on Modigliani so I cannot offer any comparison with other bios available. I found it to be a good read. Meyers sews together the various aspects of Modis life well. The writing style is straightforward compared with the convoluted writings that pervade art literature.Recommended.14 of 14 people found the following review helpful. Fine for the general readerBy drkhimxzFor the ever-increasing number who discover Modigliani from local museum shows; art appreciation and art history courses; and the mass media; Jeffrey Meyers book will provide a well-written review of known facts about him; some background on a few of his closer friends; the Parisian circle and dealers; as well as a few of his longer-associated lovers. Meyers keeps his focus on Modigliani as a person with sufficient coverage of his work to whet the appetite (perhaps) for a better look at those pictures. Nothing is spared to take the Romance out of the terrible life of a person with life-long tuberculosis; who early on in adulthood became addicted to alcohol; absinthe; ether; hashish; opium; and probably a variety of other destructive drugs. With him; it became a matter of drusg or no painting; and so; those who valued or sought for other reasons his pictures; helped feed his habit. Of course; use of these drugs was commonplace in his crowd so that one had to go to excessive excess; so to speak; to be noticed. Modi; as he was known; did become one of these sad figuresNonetheless; despite never having any success with his painting; he created a unique body of work; distinctively his own among the artists of Paris (though much influenced by great traditions in art and some from the contemporary interest in the primitive; as it was known). He was a portraitist. Never did he veer toward cubism; landscape; futurism; or any of the other fads and fashions (as well as major contributions) of his time.He was born to a distinguished Italian Jewish family of Sephardic (Spanish-Portuguese) background; while not a scholarly schoolboy; within the family he received a classical education which deeply influenced him. Poetry and literature were lifelong preoccupations of his. After some art training in Italy he came to Paris which remained his desired home for the rest of his life. He was a member; in good standing but never of successful achievement; of The School of Paris; whose foremost figure was his friend Picasso.A beautiful man until illness destroyed his looks in the last years of life; he was irresistible to woman; wracking up as many "scores" as any of the very lusty band of which he was part; he had a number of longer-term lovers; though none of them were able to establish a monogamous relation with him; the last of whom committed suicide; with his unborn child inside her; the day after he died. Many; many of these liaisons were conducted in one of the many squalid living quarters in which he lived in his perpetual poverty. Still; even to the end; there was no lack of women eager to have him; and no loss of desire in him (though near the end; the flame burned low; flickered and ultimately died). To those who knew him over the years; close friends like Moise Kisling; he was a literate; sensitive; understanding companion when sober and a humiliated; angry; hostile wretch when not. As the years went by; there were ever fewer periods of the former. He died; in physical and mental deterioration; at the age of 35. Almost immediately after; he became salable on the art market and remains an ever more valuable commodity.One note of caution in reading this work. Meyer does devote a chapter or two to the pictures; and describes some throughout the book. However; what illustrations there are; are in black and white. making it almost impossible to get much from the descriptions. Having read the book away from home; thus without my many volumes with fully colored; often fine reproductions; this frustrated me. If your interest lies only with this book and not the more extensive discussions of a monograph; of which there are some very fine ones; I would suggest you pick up one of the excellent paperbounds which focus on illustrations in color with minimal text. It will make reading a richer experience at little additional cost.