Paul Manship

by Harry Rand

The appropriate metaphor for Paul Manship's art might be a bridge, for his work provides passage between opposing shores with a formal elegance and sleek efficiency. On one side lies a terra historica well populated with the gods and goddesses of the humanist tradition; on the other, the frontier of modernism, largely unexplored in Manship's day but already generating its own mythologies based on the pace and possibilities of life in an industrial age. Manship elides past and future with such grace that the transition seems painless, even joyful. There is an irrepressible energy in his art that sweeps us along almost effortlessly into a brave new world.

Hardcover

First published January 17, 1989

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

With only 4 books on Manship published since 1980, in the new cycle of his recognition, it is surprising to see two books published pretty much at the same time, in 1989. This is published for a large Manship exhibition that toured 7 US museums, from the Smithsonian to the Metropolitan. Yet, it is actually also a monograph and, in many aspects, almost the same as John Manship’s book. With a few exceptions (a subsection on medals), it follows the same order unfolding Manship’s life and shows the same photographs of the same works. The book is smaller and thinner (it is published in a thinner paper, not as good as John Manship’s book), but it has a nicer cover with Diana, one of the best Art Deco works.