The Painted Word

"America's nerviest journalist" (Newsweek) trains his satirical eye on Modern Art in this "masterpiece" (The Washington Post) Wolfe's style has never been more dazzling, his wit never more keen. He addresses the scope of Modern Art, from its founding days as Abstract Expressionism through its transformations to Pop, Op, Minimal, and Conceptual. The Painted Word is Tom Wolfe "at his most clever, amusing, and irreverent" (San Francisco Chronicle).

Reissued for today’s reader with a redesigned cover by the renowned artist Seymour Chwast, Tom Wolfe trains his satirical eye on Modern Art in this “masterpiece” (The Washington Post). What has become of art? In his dazzling and controversial book The Painted Word, Tom Wolfe explores this question and more as he investigates early trends in Modern Art and critiques the critics who dominated the art world during the 1960s and ’70s. Wolfe addresses the scope of Modern Art, from its founding days as Abstract Expressionism through its transformations to Pop, Op, Minimal, and Conceptual. He bring into question the work of famous avant-garde artists like Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and others. With gorgeous, pointed prose, Wolfe investigates what has become of Modern Art and examines the control that art critics have over the art world at large. Elegant, hilarious, and devastating, The Painted Word presents a sharp critique of the modern state of art.

Reissued for today’s reader with a redesigned cover by the renowned artist Seymour Chwast, Tom Wolfe trains his satirical eye on Modern Art in this “masterpiece” (The Washington Post). What has become of art? In his dazzling and controversial book The Painted Word, Tom Wolfe explores this question and more as he investigates early trends in Modern Art and critiques the critics who dominated the art world during the 1960s and ’70s. Wolfe addresses the scope of Modern Art, from its founding days as Abstract Expressionism through its transformations to Pop, Op, Minimal, and Conceptual. He bring into question the work of famous avant-garde artists like Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and others. With gorgeous, pointed prose, Wolfe investigates what has become of Modern Art and examines the control that art critics have over the art world at large. Elegant, hilarious, and devastating, The Painted Word presents a sharp critique of the modern state of art.

To untangle the knot of interlocking meanings of these painted words, logophile and mythologist Phil Cousineau begins each fascinating word entry with his own brief definition. He then fills it in with a tint of etymology and a smattering of quotes that show how the word is used, ending with a list of companion words. The words themselves range from commonplace — like biscuit, a twice-baked cake for Roman soldiers — to loanwords including chaparral, from the Basque shepherds who came to the American West; words from myths, such as hector; metamorphosis words, like silly, which evolved holy to goofy in a mere thousand years; and words well worthy of revival, such as carrytale, a wandering storyteller. Whether old-fangled or brand new, all the words included in The Painted Word possess an ineffable quality that makes them luminous.

After critiquing—and infuriating—the art world with The Painted Word, award-winning author Tom Wolfe shared his less than favorable thoughts about modern architecture in From Bauhaus to Our Haus. In this examination of the strange saga of twentieth century architecture, Wolfe takes such European architects as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and Bauhaus art school founder Walter Gropius to task for their glass and steel box designed buildings that have influenced—and infected—America’s cities.

At my first sight of a painting by Samuel Bak, I had the keen sense that he was telling me stories with his brush. Now that at long last he has written this book, I find it no wonder that he has painted with his pen.... Among the tens and hundreds of books I have read about the pre-Shoah and post-Shoah period... Bak’s book is unique. Despite being suffused with a sense of loss, horror, degradation, and death, it is ultimately a sanguine, funny book, full of the love of life, rocking with an almost cathartic joy. At times I found myself bursting out laughing... a marvelous ode, a colorful hymn to the forces of life, love, creation, and the joys of the senses. —From the Foreword by Amos Oz In Painted in Words internationally renowned artist Samuel Bak sets aside his brushes to narrate the stories of his life—as a child in Nazi-occupied Vilna, as a youth in European refugee camps, and as a maturing artist in Israel, France, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States. With gentle humor, the child prodigy of the faraway past and the accomplished artist of today engage in a spirited dialogue from which emerges a self-portrait of "The Artist as a Young—and middle-aged and aging—Survivor." The brilliance, vision, and virtuosity that Bak brings to his painting are equally in evidence in his writing. This deeply touching work is an important contribution to Holocaust literature and art history.

Many people will be familiar with the paintings of John Reilly through exhibitions in cathedrals and churches, art centres and galleries throughout the south of England.His subtle and jewel-like colours and his use of geometric patterning are immediately recognisable and captivating. Figures appear to be part of the pattern of the painting, yet stand out from it with grace and eloquence. His works, painted in oils, depict a modern take on the timeless stories of the Old and New Testaments. The paintings give the Bible themes a new relevance for today's world.The works reproduced in the book are A4 size and in full colour. They are accompanied by the Bible passages that inspired them.

Exploring Beckett's relationship with the visual arts and its influence on his creative expression