Art and Artists: Poems

by Emily Fragos (Editor)

Art and Poems is a sumptuous collection of visions in verse—the work of centuries of poets who have used their own art form to illuminate art created by others.

A wide variety of visual art forms have inspired great poetry, from painting, sculpture, and photography to tapestry, folk art, and calligraphy. Included here are poems that celebrate Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa , Claude Monet’s Water Lilies , and Grant Wood’s American Gothic . Here are such well-known poems as John Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and W. H. Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts,” Homer’s immortal account of the forging of the shield of Achilles, and Federico García Lorca’s breathtaking ode to the surreal paintings of Salvador Dalí. Allen Ginsberg writes about Cezanne, Anne Sexton about van Gogh, Billy Collins about Hieronymus Bosch, and Kevin Young about Jean-Michel Basquiat. Here too are poems that take on the artists themselves, from Michelangelo and Rembrandt to Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keeffe. Altogether, this brilliantly curated anthology proves that a picture can be worth a thousand words—or a few very well-chosen ones.
 

Genres: Poetry, Art, Classics

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2012

Reviews

[Victor Chiñas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though it’s challenging to rate as it’s a compendium, certain poems resonated deeply with me, particularly those related to painting and architecture. In any case, poetry is like echoes of feelings and this book allows you to perceive those whispers.

[Rachel Earling-Hopson (Misse Mouse) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fantastic little book that speaks to my soul of the artists and the poet behind the imagination of the artist. Enduring.

[Caylynne King · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book a few days ago for R10.00 at a market. Either its previous owner didn't read it - or they did and kept it safe - perhaps it was a gift. I have a lot of questions as to why it was so cheap and so "clean." Besides that, it's now happily involved with friends alike on my shelves. I found the different writings to be interesting and some memorable. However, there are different sections to the book where writers express in poems what they thought of their topic - which I'd recommend looking up if you want to.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite some parts being difficult to understand, this is a nice collections of poems showing great appreciation for art & artists, including the original artists who did not create art for money, and didn't even put their names on it! An insightful & enjoyable read.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was hard to rate. I don't remember having read or seen any of the poems in this book before. Several of them were great (and I read them twice), but several of the poems seemed like they were included not because they were good poems, but because they fit the topic of the book. So that was a little disappointing.

[Gail Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the poems were interesting as long as I looked up the paintings. Not a huge fan of poetry unless I take a while to read each one.