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Synopsis

Twenty years ago Paul Johnson published Intellectuals, biographical essays forming what Kingsley Amis described as "a valuable and entertaining Rogues’ Gallery of Adventures of the Mind." It was a bestseller in many of the score of languages into which it was translated, but also criticized for describing clever people "so as to bring out their bad behavior" (Bernard Williams, New York Review of Books).

Paul Johnson now meets the charge with this companion volume of essays on outstanding and prolific creative spirits. He looks at writers from Chaucer and Shakespeare to Mark Twain and T. S. Eliot, artists like Dürer, and architects such as Pugin and Viollet-le-Duc. He explains the different ways in which Jane Austen, Madame de Stael, and George Eliot struggled to make their voices heard in the masculine hubbub. Victor Hugo allows him to ask, "Can imaginative genius coexist with low intelligence?" Johann Sebastian Bach gives him the opportunity to focus on the role of genetics in creativity and to explore the strange world of the organ loft. Louis Comfort Tiffany takes him into the technology of glass-making and the tragic vagaries of aesthetic fashion. Some essays make illuminating comparisons: of Turner with his contemporary the Japanese master Hokusai, and of the two great dress designers, Balenciaga and Dior. The final essay examines those two inventive geniuses, Picasso and Disney, and asks which had the greater influence on the visual arts of the twentieth century -- and beyond.

Paul Johnson believes that creation is a mysterious business that cannot be satisfactorily analyzed. But it can be illustrated in such a way as to bring outits salient characteristics. That is the purpose of this instructive and witty book.

Publishers Weekly
Having in a previous book filleted intellectuals, conservative historian Johnson happily embraces the canon in search of artistic heroes. In 13 biographical sketches covering six centuries, he describes the masters of literature (Shakespeare), painting (Durer), music (Bach) and adornment (Tiffany). His own efforts as a painter (mentioned with great modesty) add poignancy to his admiration for artists like Turner and Hokusai. Johnson emphasizes the rarity of truly visionary artists, but this is not a particularly polemical book: his enthusiasm for the creators overrides his tendency to play the gadfly. For Johnson, true genius resides not merely in native creativity but also in curiosity and industriousness. Many of his subjects were tremendously ambitious and prolific, with exceptions like Jane Austen serving to illustrate this all the more. Creation, says Johnson, is above all a vocation-but it's also a business. It's striking that several of his subjects became quite wealthy-he is particularly impressed with the riches Picasso amassed. Johnson's historical skills exceed his talents as a critic, but his approach is unfailingly generous, and his sections on Hamlet and Austen are genuinely revealing. (Apr. 1) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Biography

Paul Johnson is a historian whose work ranges over the millennia and the whole gamut of human activities. His History of Christianity and History of the Jews describe the religious dimension, his Modern Times encapsulates the twentieth century, and his Art: A New History is the story of visual culture in all its forms, from the cave painters to today. He contributes a weekly essay to the Spectator, a monthly column to Forbes, practices the gentle art of watercolor painting, and lives in London and Somerset. He has four children and eight grandchildren. Creators: From Chaucer and Durer to Picasso and Disneydownload دانلود ,كتاب eBooks , از گروه Art and Humanities فرهنگ و هنر كتابخانه اينترنتي دانش گستران جوان You Research

From the Publisher

Twenty years ago Paul Johnson published Intellectuals, biographical essays forming what Kingsley Amis described as "a valuable and entertaining Rogues’ Gallery of Adventures of the Mind." It was a bestseller in many of the score of languages into which it was translated, but also criticized for describing clever people "so as to bring out their bad behavior" (Bernard Williams, New York Review of Books).

Paul Johnson now meets the charge with this companion volume of essays on outstanding and prolific creative spirits. He looks at writers from Chaucer and Shakespeare to Mark Twain and T. S. Eliot, artists like Dürer, and architects such as Pugin and Viollet-le-Duc. He explains the different ways in which Jane Austen, Madame de Stael, and George Eliot struggled to make their voices heard in the masculine hubbub. Victor Hugo allows him to ask, "Can imaginative genius coexist with low intelligence?" Johann Sebastian Bach gives him the opportunity to focus on the role of genetics in creativity and to explore the strange world of the organ loft. Louis Comfort Tiffany takes him into the technology of glass-making and the tragic vagaries of aesthetic fashion. Some essays make illuminating comparisons: of Turner with his contemporary the Japanese master Hokusai, and of the two great dress designers, Balenciaga and Dior. The final essay examines those two inventive geniuses, Picasso and Disney, and asks which had the greater influence on the visual arts of the twentieth century -- and beyond.

Paul Johnson believes that creation is a mysterious business that cannot be satisfactorily analyzed. But it can be illustrated in such a way as to bring outits salient characteristics. That is the purpose of this instructive and witty book.

Publishers Weekly
Having in a previous book filleted intellectuals, conservative historian Johnson happily embraces the canon in search of artistic heroes. In 13 biographical sketches covering six centuries, he describes the masters of literature (Shakespeare), painting (Durer), music (Bach) and adornment (Tiffany). His own efforts as a painter (mentioned with great modesty) add poignancy to his admiration for artists like Turner and Hokusai. Johnson emphasizes the rarity of truly visionary artists, but this is not a particularly polemical book: his enthusiasm for the creators overrides his tendency to play the gadfly. For Johnson, true genius resides not merely in native creativity but also in curiosity and industriousness. Many of his subjects were tremendously ambitious and prolific, with exceptions like Jane Austen serving to illustrate this all the more. Creation, says Johnson, is above all a vocation-but it's also a business. It's striking that several of his subjects became quite wealthy-he is particularly impressed with the riches Picasso amassed. Johnson's historical skills exceed his talents as a critic, but his approach is unfailingly generous, and his sections on Hamlet and Austen are genuinely revealing. (Apr. 1) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal
In this sequel to Intellectuals (1988), prolific journalist and historian Johnson profiles 17 individuals who have made enduring works of art or were pioneers in various creative fields: writers (e.g., T.S. Eliot), artists (e.g., Albrecht Durer), architects (e.g., Eugene Viollet-le-Duc), fashion designers (e.g., Cristobal Balenciaga), a composer (Johann Sebastian Bach), a crafts artist (Louis Comfort Tiffany), and a filmmaker (Walt Disney). (The final chapter offers capsule biographies of scientists and inventors.) Johnson lists key qualities of the creators-e.g., courage, persistence, imagination-but does not thoroughly explicate what constitutes creativity. He admires most of his subjects with some notable exceptions: Victor Hugo and Pablo Picasso were both prodigiously creative, but, as he sees it, the former had a mediocre intellect while the latter was evil in his relations with others. Occasionally, other personal prejudices are revealed: Johnson, for instance, intensely dislikes the 1960s. This book is meant for lay readers; the prose style is brisk, clear, and jargon-free. As such, it is primarily recommended for larger public library collections but would also make a good selection for undergraduate academic libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/05; Johnson plans to produce a third study on heroes.-Ed.]-Morris Hounion, New York City Coll. of Technology Lib., CUNY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. Creators: From Chaucer and Durer to Picasso and Disneydownload دانلود ,كتاب eBooks , از گروه Art and Humanities فرهنگ و هنر كتابخانه اينترنتي دانش گستران جوان You Research