Ambition and Love in Modern American Art

Yale Publications in the History of Art

by Jonathan Weinberg

Freud wrote that the artist “desires to win honor, power, wealth, fame, and the love of women.” In this engrossing book, Jonathan Weinberg investigates how an artist’s ambition interacts with his or her art, how wealth and celebrity play a role in the artistic process. He shows that anxiety about the relationship of an artwork to identity and the corrupting influence of fame plague modern artists of all genders and sexual orientations.

Weinberg begins by discussing Whistler’s famous portrait of his mother in terms of maternal metaphors for painting. He then looks at the familial relationships forged by artists like Jackson Pollock and Sally Mann with their imagined tradition. He next focuses on the role of love in photographs by Alfred Stieglitz as well as Georgia O’Keeffe’s attempts to find autonomy from her partner Stieglitz. Weinberg also reveals that artistic fame is usually a matter of competition, and he examines the impulse of artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol to work together. The book concludes with a rumination on the NAMES Project Quilt and the problem of what becomes of those who die in obscurity.

Genres: Art

328 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Kodiaksm · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly good book however, it is showing its age (2001) on numerous topics:
Homosexuals
Women artists
Promoting etc
The author's words were thought provoking. For instance, is photography "art" or just "data gathering?"

[Nga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful book. I found much delight in reading chapters regarding the art of Picasso, Pollock, Whistler, Hockney and O'Keeffe.