Appreciation - Painting, Poetry and Prose (Art Ebook).pdf

Crown | 1947 | Pdf | Eng | 215 pages | 22.2 MB

The subject of this book is Prose and Poetry, and it may seem that all this has little to do with a theme that smells of esthetics. But as I see it, this kind of thing is the very heart of the subject. I dislike estheticism. For me Prose and Poetry belong to the world of vital interests, to those matters which affect the current of our days. They are less important than food and shelter, but as soon as we can sit back and reflect, they become important enough to be worth bothering about, even to the point of having a book written about them.

Passionate, generous, captious, gregarious, Leo Stein, if not forgotten completely, is often viewed as either an incidental shadow behind his flamboyant sister Gertrude, or, worse, her nemesis. First published just before his death in 1947, this volume is a loose amalgam of philosophical, political and personal reminiscences centered on what was indeed central to Leo Stein's life: visual art. Art's affinities with poetry and prose bind them all in this testament of a believer. The belief is that Being reveals itself most in art. Stein's sincere efforts to share his illuminations with "Everyman" allow readers to forgive arrogance in favor of his fundamental humility. Yet his trenchant barbs are unsparing of critics and others who refuse to see what he does. While some observations remain fresh and valid, many are dubious for all time. His voice is authentic, if opinionated, whether speaking of Picasso, Matisse, Casals or Vollard, of rich American art collectors or of unknown painters and their models. And his frequent use of anecdote allows Stein to flex his ample wit and humor. On literature, as on painting, his comments are hardly revolutionary or profound, but his agility in linking ideas across the spectrum of the arts makes his enthusiasm infectious and elicits compassion for a misunderstood man