Double Rhythm: Writings About Painting (artists & Art) Hardcover

Jean Hélion, the French painter who died at eighty-three in 1987, brought together in his copious and essential writing on art the theoretical authority of the intellectual and the fundamental insights of the craftsman in his studio. His writing extended throughout the five decades or more of his career. Soon after the young painter’s arrival in Paris from the provinces, he began a literary-art magazine; he wrote polemical articles as a leading avant-garde abstractionist; he wrote about the great tradition of figure painting while still painting abstractions; and he wrote journals, notes on studio practice, pieces about the role of the artist in society, and much more. His prolificacy is made more extraordinary because he wrote in two languages—having lived in the United States for some years, he wrote many of his articles in English for an American and British audience. This volume collects, for the first time, the diverse writings by Hélion that appeared in print originally in English, including “The Abstract Artist in Society,” “Poussin, Seurat, and Double Rhythm,” “Objects for a Painter,” and many more. Double Rhythm is sure to become essential reading for art historians and painters. Jean Hélion, the French painter who died at eighty-three in 1987, brought together in his copious and essential writing on art the theoretical authority of the intellectual and the fundamental insights of the craftsman in his studio. His writing extended throughout the five decades or more of his career.Soon after the young painter’s arrival in Paris from the provinces, he began a literary-art magazine; he wrote polemical articles as a leading avant-garde abstractionist; he wrote about the great tradition of figure painting while still painting abstractions; and he wrote journals, notes on studio practice, pieces about the role of the artist in society, and much more. His prolificacy is made more extraordinary because he wrote in two languages—having lived in the United States for some years, he wrote many of his articles in English for an American and British audience.This volume collects, for the first time, the diverse writings by Hélion that appeared in print originally in English, including “The Abstract Artist in Society,” “Poussin, Seurat, and Double Rhythm,” “Objects for a Painter,” and many more. __Double Rhythm__ is sure to become essential reading for art historians and painters. This Book Collects, For The First Time, Texts By Hélion Published Originally In English In Magazines Both Well-known And Obscure, Including Partisan Review, Burlington Magazine, And Art And Literature. In These Incisive And Beautifully Lucid Essays, Notes, And Interviews From Almost Five Decades, On Subjects Ranging From The Abstract Artist's Role In Society To The Traditions Of Figure Painting, Hélion Applies A Powerful Intellectual Authority To The Studio Insights Of The Working Artist--dust Jacket. Introduction / Deborah Rosenthal -- The Evolution Of Abstract Art As Shown In The Gallery Of Living Art -- From Reduction To Growth -- Seurat As Predecessor -- Poussin, Seurat And Double Rhythm -- Avowals And Comments -- The Abstract Artist In Society : Interview With Jean Hélion -- Ten Frenchmen On A Prison Farm -- Escape Through Germany -- Colors And Walls -- How War Has Made Me Paint -- The Making Of A Picture -- Untitled Text Included In Eleven Europeans In America -- Notes From A Letter To The Author -- Text -- Figure -- Objects For A Painter -- Art Concert 1930 -- New York City. Jean Hélion ; Edited & With An Introduction By Deborah Rosenthal. Jean H#65533;lion, the French painter who died at eighty-three in 1987, brought together in his copious and essential writing on art the theoretical authority of the intellectual and the fundamental insights of the craftsman in his studio. His writing extended throughout the five decades or more of his career. Soon after the young painter's arrival in Paris from the provinces, he began a literary-art magazine; he wrote polemical articles as a leading avant-garde abstractionist; he wrote about the great tradition of figure painting while still painting abstractions; and he wrote journals, notes