40 grandes artistas retratan a sus amantes

by Juliet Heslewood

Desde Rafael, Rubens y Goya hasta Klimt y Kahlo, más de cuarenta retratos que conforman esta colección sobre los amantes de los artistas.
Se revela todo aquello que subyace a cada uno de los trabajos, las historias de amores prohibidos, las amantes como musas, esposas o compañeras de vida.
Una fascinante combinación de anécdota biográfica e historia del arte, es también una celebración a las relaciones, al compañerismo y al amor.

Genres: Art

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a small and beautiful book, with 40 portraits of women and men painted by their famous artist lovers – Rubens, Raphael, Rembrandt, Goya, Klimt, Millais or Rossetti.

The author puts the painting into context and it was quite interesting reading about the relationship between the model and artist. The texts leave you wanting for more, for they are small, but it is a good starting point for further reading.

[Dulce · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a soft casual read. I believe there could be more information but it's a good point to start researching artists and personal lives. I recommend it for someone who is starting to read after a long time.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Forty well-known paintings (well, three were photos) by mostly well-known artists, focussed on their lovers--the title of this book, by Heslewood, summed it up neatly.

As one who isn't up to speed on the art world, let alone it's figures that inspired and acted as muses, I found this book to be quite interesting.

Shedding light on the figures many of us already recognise really does add much depth to a piece of art and it's interesting to see how often the same person would tend to sit in an artist's other paintings.

Another common theme was how incredibly unfaithful artists are, often leaving spouses to be with their new muses. What tortured, self-loving creatures they seem to be.

Overall, this book is a nice, quick introduction to the world of secret (and not so secret) loves alongside the inspiration behind many famous paintings.

Good full-page photos are accompanied by a brief, surface-level description of the person in question. I would've liked more written on each artist, hence my score, but you can't have it all!
How these people affected or influenced their artistic styles, or thoughts from other on their relationships, could've been expanded upon further in my opinion, which would've made it more comprehensive.

[Yoana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the language a bit simplistic, but overall, very enjoyable read.

[Michelle]

A veces nos olvidamos que en el mundo real también hay historias de amor que marcan vidas.