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Secret Lives of Great Artists
by
Elizabeth Lunday (Goodreads Author)
With outraeous anecdotes about everyone from Leonardo (alleged sodomist) to Caraviaggio (convicted murderer) to Edward Hopper (alleged wife beater), Secret Lives of Great Artists recounts the seamy, steamy, and gritty history behind the great masters of international art. You’ll learn that Michelangelo’s body odor was so bad, his assistants couldn’t stand working for him;...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
July 1st 2008
by Quirk Books
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In my pursuit of obtaining knowledge about my interest, I walk a line between art and history (and art history?). Because I am working on my Masters in History right now, the art side often gets neglected (or at least my girlfriend points out that it does). This book was a pretty good way of bringing me back to reading about art because it points out how intriguing artists really are. In Secret Lives of the Artists , Lunday digs up the dirt on 35 prominent artists. Some of the information I kne...more
When I first looked at this book I wasn't too sure I would like it. Instead, I find I dip into it at spare moments. Each artists' bio is covered in about 4 pages and there are some little nuggets that are not common knowledge.
This is by no means a definitive book about artists, their lives and their works, but it gives just enough to pique your curiosity to look up more. You at least get the work the artist is most known for and who his patrons were. It's a fun book that gives a synopsis of info...more
This is by no means a definitive book about artists, their lives and their works, but it gives just enough to pique your curiosity to look up more. You at least get the work the artist is most known for and who his patrons were. It's a fun book that gives a synopsis of info...more
With outraeous anecdotes about everyone from Leonardo (alleged sodomist) to Caraviaggio (convicted murderer) to Edward Hopper (alleged wife beater), Secret Lives of Great Artists recounts the seamy, steamy, and gritty history behind the great masters of international art. You’ll learn that Michelangelo’s body odor was so bad, his assistants couldn’t stand working for him; that Vincent van Gogh sometimes ate paint directly from the tube; and Georgia O’Keeffe loved to paint in the nude. This is on...more
Feb 08, 2009
Ro Cepellos
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in art, especially those who are unfamiliar with the various movements.
Recommended to Ro by:
Napoleon.
Shelves:
art-art-history
Van Gogh was the first artist to make me cry.
Goya was the first to make me sick to my stomach within about ten to fifteen minutes in a room with the Black Paintings.
Picasso was the first to make my heart beat a little faster, to tickle the playful parts of me and make my insides giggle.
It wasn't just the raw emotion on the canvas or the brilliance of the conception and execution that resonated deep enough to elicit tears, nausea, and breathless delight. Much of this depended on my burgeoning u...more
This one took forever for me to read. I kept getting distracted and losing interest. It's more like a bathroom reader; you can just pick it up and leave it as you please. It would make a good coffee table book – it'd probably be a good conversation starter. Reading this was like browsing through a stack of biographical works on a bunch of well-known artists. The author’s selected bibliography looks like just that, a collection of sweeping biographies of various famous artists that she skimmed th...more
I read Secret Lives of Great Authors a few years ago and loved it. Secret Lives of Great Artists did not disappoint. Reading it made me get online and look up all of the paintings and sculptures that the author was telling me about. I like the trivial details and the fact that it increased my interest in the subject matter.
I received this book as a gift and thought to myself "Oh great...another art book."
However, this book informed me on information I have never heard of concerning some of my favorite artists! It was very entertaining, gives a lot of information on a variety of artists. I deem this my favorite bathroom read.
However, this book informed me on information I have never heard of concerning some of my favorite artists! It was very entertaining, gives a lot of information on a variety of artists. I deem this my favorite bathroom read.
Nicely illustrated and lighthearted glance at 19th and 20th century cannon artists, with plenty of People magazine-esque anecdotes. My favorite had to be Jackson Pollock getting hammered during the installation of one of his paintings in Peggy Guggenheim's house, and then urinating into her fireplace during the subsequent party. Oh, Jackson, you're so classy.
It wasn't bad. A little heavy on the cartoon graphics (I'd have liked it much better if some of the actual works that were referred to had been pictured - as photographs, not cartoons), and the style was a little too "tabloid" for my taste, but all in all entertaining to read.
Well..I guess I was expenting more interesting facts about the artists.:/ Although I enjoyed reading the book - it was easy and fun to read. But if I wrote sth like this, I would try to find out more "dirt" on the artists plus you never know who's right, right? :)
Artists and art appreciators will find these stories of the lives of 35 well-known artists from the Renaissance to Pop Art terribly interesting. Some of the stories are hopeful and others devastating, but they are all compelling; and both the author and illustrator of the book strike the right humorous tone.
Even though I found it a little heavy on the tongue-in-cheek writing style, I still found this book a fun read. Kind of like beach reading for artists?
I really enjoyed this book, i like the brief bios and it gave me some insight into works i've seen but never known anything about.
Best intro for art history anybody could read. Amazingly entertaining and informative.
definitely part of the history your professor avoided...
Sep 08, 2010
Carlo
is currently reading it
Little episodes which are great to read now and then
Jul 27, 2011
Dianepratt
added it
Fun to read, but not sure I believed it all...
Had some fun, very few surprises.
only thing i don't like so far is i have to look up every artwork, as they are not printed in the book. it does however have a fun layout, including each artists astrological sign and "likes" and "dislikes".
excellent book! apparently the author has decided to draw the correlation between "Renaissance Man" and how many of these "Renaissance Men" were actually gay or bisexual men painting and sculpting for the Catholic Church. Apparently the church had a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy about their...more
excellent book! apparently the author has decided to draw the correlation between "Renaissance Man" and how many of these "Renaissance Men" were actually gay or bisexual men painting and sculpting for the Catholic Church. Apparently the church had a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy about their...more
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Jul 11, 2009
Pollopicu
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
no one. I would be too embarassed to admit I read it.
effin horrible. Total disgrace.
So scandalous... :)
silly but fun
A good read. I was a little disappointed since it claims to tell you what your teachers never did, but a lot of it i had heard from my art history professors. It was still interesting, but probably geared more for people who are interested in art and art history, but not art history majors like me.
A gift from my granddaughter. Lots of fun.
This book is just fun. All sorts of crazy bits about some of history's greatest artists. These would make interesting stories about non-famous people....
Quick overview of big-name Western artists, with some cool trivia. Very generalized but a fun, breezy read that taught me some interesting facts.
Every night I read the "secret life" of one artist before going to bed. Fun!
May 20, 2013
Arielle
is currently reading it
May 20, 2013
Merve
is currently reading it
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I love telling stories about the arts, because art, literature, music and architecture can lift us out of our workaday muddling of laundry and dirty dishes and overflowing recycling bins and fill us with wonder, sorrow, amazement, and joy. Even more remarkable to my mind is that the people who create the experiences aren’t some sort of higher form of the species–artists aren’t separate from the re...more
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