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Inspired!: True Stories Behind Famous Art, Literature, Music, and Film
Discover the fascinating true stories behind the world's most famous works of art, literature, music and film, complete with historical images.
What real-life hero inspired the literary adventures of the Count of Monte Cristo and the Three Musketeers? How many women paid a steep price for being Picasso's muse? Why did author Conan Doyle dream of murdering his biggest creation, Sherlock Holmes? What force drove George Lucas to create Star Wars ?
Full of tragedy and humor, the 20 stories included in this book explore the lesser-known facts about the world’s most Inspired! lives, from Mata Hari to Salvador Dali, from Bonnie and Clyde to Andy Warhol.
Inspired! is an easy-to-read, entertaining book for everyone interested in art, history, film and extraordinary human stories.
What real-life hero inspired the literary adventures of the Count of Monte Cristo and the Three Musketeers? How many women paid a steep price for being Picasso's muse? Why did author Conan Doyle dream of murdering his biggest creation, Sherlock Holmes? What force drove George Lucas to create Star Wars ?
Full of tragedy and humor, the 20 stories included in this book explore the lesser-known facts about the world’s most Inspired! lives, from Mata Hari to Salvador Dali, from Bonnie and Clyde to Andy Warhol.
Inspired! is an easy-to-read, entertaining book for everyone interested in art, history, film and extraordinary human stories.
256 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2015
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311 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 6, 2017
Artists are so interesting. Inspired! is a compilation of anecdotes about famous artists, writers, singers, actors, and a few of their muses. From scandals to ménage à trois, drug addictions, and kangaroo consumption (really!), this book has so many interesting little tidbits covering a variety of topics. I may be biased in that I love reading books that teach trivia, but seriously, this was excellent.
For example, did you know that the artist Suzanne Valadon was ground-breaking in the scandalous content of her paintings? She also fell passionately in love with a guy who was twenty years younger than her: "The relationship inspired Valadon to create Adam and Eve (1909), one of her best-known works. The painting was the first publicly exhibited depiction of a nude man and woman together by a female artist. The concept was daring- Adam and Eve unabashedly nude and running toward the viewer. The figure of Eve was a self-portrait, with Utter (her young lover) as Adam." loc 317, ebook. Yay, Valadon!
Or did you know that Mata Hari was eventually executed as a traitor? I didn't! "She refused to make her last confession to a priest, saying that the only thing she ever did was love men. "Harlot, yes, but traitor, never!" she said." loc 458, ebook. Hard core.
How about the fact that Arthur Conan Doyle made even his mom mad when he killed off Sherlock Holmes? It didn't sit well with the public. Doyle's mother was furious with him. An avalanche of hate letters came in the mail. Rabid fans hounded Doyle on the streets of London, and an angry woman attacked him with an umbrella in broad daylight." loc 507. Reminds me of what happened to George Lucas when he messed with the sequences in Episodes IV, V, and VI. People get mad when you do things to beloved characters of the page and screen. Still true.
The chapters are short so Bukhonina doesn't get bogged down in the details of each story. I suppose a criticism of this book could be that she covers so many different artists, but I love short and sweet.
I highly recommend this one for trivia hounds and non-fiction devotees. Inspired! is a treat.
Thank you to NetGalley and Museyon Publishing for a free digital copy of this book.
For example, did you know that the artist Suzanne Valadon was ground-breaking in the scandalous content of her paintings? She also fell passionately in love with a guy who was twenty years younger than her: "The relationship inspired Valadon to create Adam and Eve (1909), one of her best-known works. The painting was the first publicly exhibited depiction of a nude man and woman together by a female artist. The concept was daring- Adam and Eve unabashedly nude and running toward the viewer. The figure of Eve was a self-portrait, with Utter (her young lover) as Adam." loc 317, ebook. Yay, Valadon!
Or did you know that Mata Hari was eventually executed as a traitor? I didn't! "She refused to make her last confession to a priest, saying that the only thing she ever did was love men. "Harlot, yes, but traitor, never!" she said." loc 458, ebook. Hard core.
How about the fact that Arthur Conan Doyle made even his mom mad when he killed off Sherlock Holmes? It didn't sit well with the public. Doyle's mother was furious with him. An avalanche of hate letters came in the mail. Rabid fans hounded Doyle on the streets of London, and an angry woman attacked him with an umbrella in broad daylight." loc 507. Reminds me of what happened to George Lucas when he messed with the sequences in Episodes IV, V, and VI. People get mad when you do things to beloved characters of the page and screen. Still true.
The chapters are short so Bukhonina doesn't get bogged down in the details of each story. I suppose a criticism of this book could be that she covers so many different artists, but I love short and sweet.
I highly recommend this one for trivia hounds and non-fiction devotees. Inspired! is a treat.
Thank you to NetGalley and Museyon Publishing for a free digital copy of this book.
October 19, 2016
Disclaimer: ARC via Net galley and Museyon Inc.
Bukhonina’s book covers several famous artists and the inspiration, usually women though in some cases men, that inspired them. She deals not only with artists in terms of the literal sense of the word, but also writers, musicians and film makers. In some cases, she focuses more on the inspirational person than on the artist.
The book starts off with Alexandre Dumas’ father includes Mata Hari, Marie Dupleiness, and Doyle. Among these more well-known individuals, Bukhonia also includes the true story of Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”, theater manager Renee Harris, Suzanne Valadon, as well as Hachiko, Japan’s famous loyal dog. She also includes people who might be polarizing, such as Hattie McDaniel who can be a polarizing figure because of the roles that she portrayed.
It is to Bukhonina’s credit that she includes women whose lives inspired and women who were more like muses – think of Picasso or Dali’s relationships with their perspective women. She also does not shy away from mentioning the more abusive aspects of some of the relationships.
At times, though not often, the style is somewhat like a checklist. Mention this, mention that, mention this. There is also a point where it is not quite clear that she is talking about Alexandre Dumas fils or the more famous Alexandre Dumas, his father.
Yet despite the fame and well known histories of some of the subjects, the book does an excellent jump and makes for exciting reading. It is an enjoyable, enlightening, quick read.
Bukhonina’s book covers several famous artists and the inspiration, usually women though in some cases men, that inspired them. She deals not only with artists in terms of the literal sense of the word, but also writers, musicians and film makers. In some cases, she focuses more on the inspirational person than on the artist.
The book starts off with Alexandre Dumas’ father includes Mata Hari, Marie Dupleiness, and Doyle. Among these more well-known individuals, Bukhonia also includes the true story of Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”, theater manager Renee Harris, Suzanne Valadon, as well as Hachiko, Japan’s famous loyal dog. She also includes people who might be polarizing, such as Hattie McDaniel who can be a polarizing figure because of the roles that she portrayed.
It is to Bukhonina’s credit that she includes women whose lives inspired and women who were more like muses – think of Picasso or Dali’s relationships with their perspective women. She also does not shy away from mentioning the more abusive aspects of some of the relationships.
At times, though not often, the style is somewhat like a checklist. Mention this, mention that, mention this. There is also a point where it is not quite clear that she is talking about Alexandre Dumas fils or the more famous Alexandre Dumas, his father.
Yet despite the fame and well known histories of some of the subjects, the book does an excellent jump and makes for exciting reading. It is an enjoyable, enlightening, quick read.
February 1, 2018
A nice quick easy read that condenses many subjects into readable and interesting summaries. Almost like a bunch of wikepedia entries which can spark your interest in a bunch of different subjects. I wish that she would delve a bit deeper into the source of the inspiration rather than delving into those who were inspired by these artists.
December 29, 2017
Interesting!
December 9, 2016
Inspired!, True Stories Behind Famous Art, Literature, Music, and Film, Maria Bukhonina
Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews
Genre: Biographies and memoirs
I love the stories about who, why and how inspiration brought about paintings, stories and relationships so this was a fun read.
I’m a bit of a wiki addict and this was very much like reading that, but in a bit more depth.
There’s some fascinating stories here, and I was absorbed reading about them. I didn’t read right through, but picked up and put down absorbing individual stories, rather than info-dumping with too much.
My husband brought me some paperback about individual artists a few years back and some of this overlapped but there was also much more that I didn’t know, which let me onto a fact finding mission via the internet for more details.
I’m always pondering how and what inspired works, and thinking if things were different, if people hadn’t met in that way, or perhaps not at all, if their families had been more or less supportive, it makes me wonder just how things evolve.
In my own case it was being suddenly disabled and retired from work that led me down the art path – if things had been different would I have taken that journey or gone a different way. so much of our lives interacts with what we do that there are many possible different ways unfolding over the years.
If you like not only looking at paintings, reading books, watching films and going to theatre but researching how these things came about you’ll find this a fascinating read.
I have it as a kindle file and its ok like that but its one of the few books that I feel are best appreciated in traditional prints format.
Stars: Four, an interesting and absorbing read.
ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers
Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews
Genre: Biographies and memoirs
I love the stories about who, why and how inspiration brought about paintings, stories and relationships so this was a fun read.
I’m a bit of a wiki addict and this was very much like reading that, but in a bit more depth.
There’s some fascinating stories here, and I was absorbed reading about them. I didn’t read right through, but picked up and put down absorbing individual stories, rather than info-dumping with too much.
My husband brought me some paperback about individual artists a few years back and some of this overlapped but there was also much more that I didn’t know, which let me onto a fact finding mission via the internet for more details.
I’m always pondering how and what inspired works, and thinking if things were different, if people hadn’t met in that way, or perhaps not at all, if their families had been more or less supportive, it makes me wonder just how things evolve.
In my own case it was being suddenly disabled and retired from work that led me down the art path – if things had been different would I have taken that journey or gone a different way. so much of our lives interacts with what we do that there are many possible different ways unfolding over the years.
If you like not only looking at paintings, reading books, watching films and going to theatre but researching how these things came about you’ll find this a fascinating read.
I have it as a kindle file and its ok like that but its one of the few books that I feel are best appreciated in traditional prints format.
Stars: Four, an interesting and absorbing read.
ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers
December 8, 2016
I woke up at five this morning, and couldn't trick myself into sleeping again, so I grabbed my iPad and read Inspired! because if you can't have beautiful dreams, you might as well stare at beautiful things instead.
Inspired! is a collection of better-written-than-wikipedia-although-containing-the-same-superficial-information entries about twenty different inspired people (actually, one of them is a dog and some chapters are about a partnership, so actually twenty-five people and one dog). I'm not sure how a dog is inspired. It's a cute story though -- Hachikō. My impression is that Inspired! is supposed to be a sort of glossy, flipping-through-it book you find in museum gift shops. Or maybe it's for tweens/teens to learn about inspired people (and dogs). I could picture myself reading it at the dentist to pass the time. I doubt I'd purchase it though.
Ultimately, it's an icing book -- you aren't going to feel very full after reading it. Plus, and I am assuming because of copyright issues, art that is referenced in the text isn't always reproduced (it's like the book didn't even know that it was going to be my looking-at-beautiful-things-while-insomnia'd book
Inspired! is a collection of better-written-than-wikipedia-although-containing-the-same-superficial-information entries about twenty different inspired people (actually, one of them is a dog and some chapters are about a partnership, so actually twenty-five people and one dog). I'm not sure how a dog is inspired. It's a cute story though -- Hachikō. My impression is that Inspired! is supposed to be a sort of glossy, flipping-through-it book you find in museum gift shops. Or maybe it's for tweens/teens to learn about inspired people (and dogs). I could picture myself reading it at the dentist to pass the time. I doubt I'd purchase it though.
Ultimately, it's an icing book -- you aren't going to feel very full after reading it. Plus, and I am assuming because of copyright issues, art that is referenced in the text isn't always reproduced (it's like the book didn't even know that it was going to be my looking-at-beautiful-things-while-insomnia'd book
December 4, 2016
Exactly what it says it is – a collection of pieces about the true inspiration behind iconic works of art, from Picasso to Dali, Conan Doyle to George Lucas and many more. There’s something for everyone here and it’s a book to dip back into again and again. Entertaining, informative and just generally good fun.
Want to read
May 23, 2017Note: I received a digital review copy of this book through NetGalley.
November 17, 2016
Interesting! Learned the chains of inspiration by art.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews