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Dix Portraits

Series: Ekphrasis
3.44 goodreads logo

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( 50 ratings, 19 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Dix Portraits is a unique artist's book originally published in 1930, combining Gertrude Stein's innovative prose portraits with original lithographs by Pablo Picasso and other influential artists of her circle. Created during pivotal years in art history, the book explores the intimate relationship between artist and subject, blending Stein's text with illustrations by Picasso, Christian Bรฉrard, Eugene Berman, Pavel Tchelitchew, and Kristians Tonny. Subjects include notable figures like Picasso, Guillaume Apollinaire, and Erik Satie, offering a nuanced dialogue between written and visual art.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$1999
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This edition is ideal for readers interested in modernist literature, art history enthusiasts, and collectors of artist's books, especially those fascinated by the early 20th century avant-garde and the cross-pollination of visual art and literature.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Originally published in 1930 in an edition of 100 copies, Gertrude Stein's Dix Portraits pairs her singular literary style with original lithographs by Pablo Picasso and other artists in Stein's circle to create an exceptional artist's book exploring written and visual portraiture.

Written between 1913 and 1929, revolutionary years in art history, Dix Portraits conveys the deep human engagement between an artist and her subject. The artist's book unites Stein's ten portraits in prose with sketches by five artists: Pablo Picasso, Christian Bรฉrard, Eugene Berman, Pavel Tchelitchew, and Kristians Tonny. Utilizing the interplay between word and image, Stein's writing and the artists' images provide nuance and depth, balancing humour and sincerity.

With a new introduction by Lynne Tillman, Dix Portraits is an unforgettable artistic collaboration. The subjects represented include Pablo Picasso, Guillaume Apollinaire, Erik Satie, Pavel Tchelitchew, Virgil Thomson, Christian Bรฉrard, Bernard Faรฟ, Kristians Tonny, Georges Hugnet, and Eugene Berman. Originally printed in an edition of 100 copies with the lithography, and now widely accessible for the first time, Dix Portraits captures Stein's legacy as a champion of artists and a pioneer of creativity.

Series: Ekphrasis

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  • Dix Portraits
    Originally published in 1930 in an edition of 100 copies, Gertrude Stein's Dix Portraits pairs her singular literary style with original lithographs by Pablo Picasso and other artists in Stein's circle to create an exceptional artist's book exploring written and visual portraiture. Written between 1913 and 1929, revolutionary years in art history, Dix Portraits conveys the deep human engagement between...
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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781644230541

Publisher: David Zwirner

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 12 May 2022

Country: United States

Imprint: David Zwirner

Illustration: 10 Illustrations

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 108.0mm

Height: 178.0mm

Weight: 70g

Pages: 60

About the Author

The American writer Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) was a major figure in the avant-garde visual arts and literary spheres in the period between World Wars I and II. Stein moved to Paris in 1903 where she met Alice B. Toklas, who would remain her companion for 40 years. Their home in Paris functioned as a salon for many now-celebrated writers and artists, who became close acquaintances. Stein is recognized for coining the term the "Lost Generation" to describe American authors living abroad, including Ernest Hemingway and Sherwood Anderson. She and her brother Leo were among the first collectors, patrons, and supporters of many modern and cubist artists, including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Henri Matisse. Her own work shares the goals of that of her contemporaries--for example, similar to cubist works, her writing shows a proclivity for simplification, repetition, and fragmentation. Revered and feared for both her literary and artistic expertise, Stein has, in no small part, shaped how we understand and appreciate modernism today. Stein's best-known books include The Making of Americans (1925), How to Write (1931), and The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (1933), as well as her poetry collection Stanzas in Meditation and Other Poems [1929-1933] (1956).

Lynne Tillman writes novels, including, most recently, Men and Apparitions (2018); short stories, including the collection The Complete Madame Realism and Other Stories (2016); and essays and art and cultural criticism, including contributions to the catalogues Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again (2018) and Raymond Pettibon: A Pen of All Work (2017) and publications such as Aperture magazine. Her book-length autobiographical essay, Mothercare, is forthcoming from Soft Skull Press in 2022. Tillman has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Creative Capital/Warhol Foundation grant for arts writing. Tillman is a professor and writer in residence in the English department of The University at Albany. She lives in New York with the bass player David Hofstra.

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