Secret lives of great artists : what your teachers never told you about master painters and sculptors

345 Pages·2008·37.18 MB·English

by  Lunday

Copyright © 2008 by Quirk Productions, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Number: 2008923885
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59474745-8
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59474-257-6
Cover designed by Doogie Horner
Interior designed by Karen Onorato
Illustrations by Mario Zucca
Edited by Mindy Brown Quirk Books
215 Church Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
www.quirkbooks.com
v3.1

Cover
Copyright
Title Page
INTRODUCTION
JAN VAN EYCK
1385?–July 9, 1441
SANDRO BOTTICELLI
1444–May 17, 1510
LEONARDO DA VINCI
April 15, 1452–May 2, 1519
ALBRECHT DÜRER
May 21, 1471–April 6, 1528
MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI
March 6, 1475–February 18, 1564
ART OF THE TIMES: RAPHAEL SANZIO (APRIL 6, 1483–APRIL 6, 1520)
MICHELANGELO MERISI DA CARAVAGGIO
September 29, 1571–July 18, 1610
REMBRANDT VAN RIJN
July 15, 1606?–October 4, 1669
JOHANNES (JAN) VERMEER
Ca. October 31, 1632–December 15, 1675
FRANCISCO GOYA
March 30, 1746–April 16, 1828
ART OF THE TIMES: THE VENUS DE MILO (DISCOVERED 1820)
JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID
August 30, 1748–December 29, 1825
DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI
May 12, 1828–April 9, 1882
ÉDOUARD MANET
January 23, 1832–April 30, 1883
JAMES M NEILL WHISTLER
C
July 11, 1834–July 17, 1903
EDGAR DEGAS
July 19, 1834–September 27, 1917
PAUL CÉZANNE
January 19, 1839–October 22, 1906
AUGUSTE RODIN
November 12, 1840–November 17,1917
CLAUDE MONET
November 14, 1840–December 5, 1926
HENRI ROUSSEAU
May 21, 1844–September 2, 1910
VINCENT VAN GOGH
March 30, 1853–July 29, 1890
ART OF THE TIMES: UKIYO-E AND THE INFLUENCE OF HOKUSAI
GEORGES SEURAT
December 2, 1859–March 29, 1891
GUSTAV KLIMT
July 14, 1862–February 6, 1918
EDVARD MUNCH
December 12, 1863–January 23, 1944
HENRI MATISSE
December 31, 1869–November 3, 1954
PABLO PICASSO
October 25, 1881–April 8, 1973
ART OF THE TIMES: AFRICAN ART
EDWARD HOPPER
July 22, 1882–May 15, 1967
DIEGO RIVERA
December 8, 1886–November 24, 1957
MARC CHAGALL
July 7, 1887–March 28, 1985
MARCEL DUCHAMP
July 28, 1887–October 2, 1968
GEORGIA O’KEEFFE
November 15, 1887–March 6, 1986
M. C. ESCHER
June 17, 1898–March 27, 1972
RENÉ MAGRITTE
November 21, 1898–August 15, 1967
SALVADOR DALÍ
May 11, 1904–January 23, 1989
FRIDA KAHLO
July 6, 1907–July 13, 1954
ART OF THE TIMES: PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
JACKSON POLLOCK
January 28, 1912–August 11, 1956
ANDY WARHOL
August 6, 1928–February 22, 1987
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Not all artists led tormented, tumultuous lives. Several, in fact, took
perfectly ordinary paths, enjoyed successful careers, and, in the fullness
of time, died.
Yet many of the most famous artists staggered from one crisis to another.
Rembrandt watched all his worldly possessions disappear in a humiliating
bankruptcy. Jacques-Louis David nearly lost his head during the French
Revolution. And Andy Warhol got himself shot by a radical feminist. Several
developed serious addictions (yes, you, Dante Gabriel Rossetti), a few had
criminal records (how do you plead, Henri Rousseau?), and at least one
regularly beat up his wife. (Hey, Edward Hopper, it’s no excuse that she gave
as good as she got.)
Still, not all artists had it tough. Marc Chagall grew up in a close-knit family
bound by love and faith—unlike Leonardo da Vinci, who was illegitimate;
Jackson Pollock, whose family took a head-first plunge into poverty; or
Georgia O’Keeffe, who watched her father succumb to chronic alcoholism
and her mother to tuberculosis.
Nor did they all have dramatic love affairs. Jan Vermeer adored his wife (or
seems to, for the couple had fifteen children). In that regard he is wholly
different from Claude Monet, who started sleeping with his second wife while
his first was dying of cancer, or Pablo Picasso, who had a hard time keeping
up with all his mistresses. Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo’s complex
relationship was fraught with its fair share of drama, including two marriage
ceremonies and the assassination of a twentieth-century political figure. Of
course, a few artists avoided the issue altogether: The reportedly celibate
Michelangelo believed abstinence extends the human lifespan, and he lived
to be eighty-eight.
You can’t even claim that all artists are crazy. It’s true that Edvard Munch
thought strangers on a train were police sent to spy on him, and Vincent van
Gogh had that whole ear thing, but they’re the exceptions. Paul Cézanne,
with his morbid fear of being touched, and Salvador Dalí, with his unusual
sexual proclivities, were probably not insane, they were just … odd.
For this book, I collected the most outrageous tales about major artists—all
the good stuff your art history professors left out. Of course, I had to be
selective. Great art didn’t start with the Renaissance or end with the death of
Andy Warhol, and it isn’t limited to the work of these thirty-five individuals. I
chose the artists you’re most likely to recognize—those whose paintings and
sculptures clog our daily lives, showing up on mouse pads, pencils, tote bags,
and posters.
You’ll learn which artist was convicted of murder, which died of syphilis,
and which signed death warrants. You’ll discover which two artists have
Broadway musicals based on their paintings, and who made a guest
appearance on The Love Boat. You’ll find out who suggested that firing a gun
was an acceptable method of attracting a waiter’s attention and who held
orgies in his living room. Along the way you’ll encounter a few incompetent
kings, a couple of corrupt popes, a horde of nefarious Nazis, and at least one
notorious Communist. Not all of the stories have happy endings, and you
may learn that your favorite artist was an adulterer, a cheat, a cad, or worse.
But one thing is for sure: You’ll never view art the same way again. On your
next museum visit, you’ll entertain friends and annoy tour guides with the dirt
on the illustrious artists whose artworks fill the galleries. With your new
perspective on Michelangelo’s nudes, Monet’s water lilies, and Warhol’s
Marilyns, you’ll be quick to contribute a witty quote to pretentious cocktail
party conversation or add a scandalous anecdote to a boring term paper.
Of course, don’t let all the scuttlebutt get in the way of your appreciation of
art. A person can paint like a master and still be an ass. On the other hand,
knowing the trials and traumas that many artists endured can enhance your
understanding of their ultimate success, and a biographical detail may shed
new light on a confusing composition.
In the end, maybe we should be glad most artists died of something other
than boredom. Many of the best lived on the edge of chaos, where great art
is born.