With Love: Artists' Letters and Illustrated Notes

by Liza Kirwin, Joan Lord

Reading other peoples' love letters brings out the voyeur in most of us. These deeply personal communications have the power to make us blush or, at the very least, to let us observe a tender moment in the lives of others. With Artists' Letters and Illustrated Notes , a selection of more than forty affectionate communiqués and rare photographs from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art, provides a glimpse into the private affairs of some of our greatest creative minds, celebrating romantic and familial love, as well as friendship. This beautifully designed book is a treasury of love letters, illustrated poetry, collages, and drawings in various media from renowned talent such as Frida Kahlo, Ee ro Saarinen, Lee Krasner, and Gio Ponti. A separate section containing complete transcriptions of all the supplementary materials further enriches this fascinating, visually rich, and collectible volume.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Sharon Barrow Wilfong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful book about the love stories of artists, including facsimili's of love letters, with transcriptions in the back. I enjoyed reading about these various artists, how they met and how much they loved each other.

[Nav · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half is a bit fluff since the handwriting is *not* legible for 99% of these. So, you get to read a bit about the artist and their relationship with the recipient alongside a photo of the letter in question. If you're actually interested in the contents of the letters just skip to the transcriptions which are, for some reason, separate.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This library discard has been on my shelf for years, and I decided to read it. A bit thin, not very satisfying, really.