As I mentioned in my previous post today, I went to see
Herb & Dorothy last night at The Nickelodeon. I enjoyed it for a number of reasons, first, because I appreciate art very much, but do not have a trained eye for it--I just like what I like. Numerous times during the film, Dorothy Vogel expresses this same sentiment about what she and her husband have collected. I also enjoyed the film because I am interested in the mind of an artist as well as that of a collector. Because I am not an artist, I am intrigued by those with such talent.
The extent of my art knowledge comes from two Asian art history classes I took in college--I wish I could have taken more, and still may someday. I know a bit about Japanese woodblock prints and their influence on Western art, which is fascinating, I must say. I took one Intro painting class in college; to be blunt, I did not find my calling that semester, but rather enjoyed watching the brushes of my more-talented peers.
The movie made me think back to a book I read some years ago while in a book club in San Francisco:
Confessions of an Art Addict, a self-portrait by
Peggy Guggenheim. Ms. Guggenheim gives an interesting glimpse into her eccentric family, her patronage of modern art in the 1930s, and portrayals of the artists she supported. Famous artists names are thrown around in this book like curse words on a pirate ship--Kandinsky, Miro, Pollock, Klee, Dali, Chagall, and Picasso, just to name a few. I was taken in by the accounts of these famous artists and her relationships with them and their art.
I recommend this book to anyone at all interested in modern art, or anyone who, like me, appreciates the eccentricities of artists and collectors such as the Vogels and Peggy Guggenheim.
Peggy Guggenheim
via here
Herb and Dorothy Vogel
via here
via here
I loved that book club! Wasn't that fun? I think this book killed the group though....people stopped reading and stopped coming after this. But I still enjoyed.
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