Overview
We instantly recognize many of their faces from the world's most iconic artworksābut just who was Picasso's 'Weeping Woman'? Or the burglar in Francis Bacon's oeuvre?Ā Why was Grace Jones covered in graffiti? Far from posing silently,Ā muses have brought emotional support, intellectual energy, career-changing creativity, and practical help to artists. However, the perception of theĀ museĀ is that of a passive, powerless model (usually young, attractive, and female)Ā at the mercy of an influential and older male artist. Could this impression be incorrect and unfair? Is this trope a romanticized myth? Have people embraced, even sought, the status ofĀ muse? Most importantly, where would artists be without them? InĀ Muse,Ā Ruth Millington's goal is to re-assess and re-claim that word in a celebratory narrative that takes ownership and demonstrates how outdated the common perception of that word is.
MuseĀ alsoĀ explores the idea of āmuseā in a different way and includes performance artists and celebrities, iconic figures we perhaps havenāt considered before asĀ muses, such as Tilda Swinton and Grace Jones. Ā By delving into the real-life relationships that models have held with the artists who immortalized them, it will expose the influential and active part they have played in contributing to the artwork they inspired, and explore the various ways people have subverted stereotypical āmuseā roles.Ā
From job supervisors to homeless men in Harlem,Ā MuseĀ will reveal the unexpected, overlooked, and forgotten models of art history. Through the stories of thirty remarkable lives, from performingĀ muses toĀ muses who have been turned into messages, this book will deconstruct reductive stereotypes of theĀ muse, and reframe it as a momentous and empowered agent of art history.
This book title, Muse (Uncovering the Hidden Figures Behind Art History's Masterpieces), ISBN: 9781639361557, by Ruth Millington, published by Pegasus Books (May 3, 2022) is available in hardcover. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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