A Pious Bacchanal: Affinities Between the Lives and Works of John Flaxman and Aubrey Beardsley (New Connections: Studies in Interdisciplinarity, Volume 10)
Category: Books,History,Europe
A Pious Bacchanal: Affinities Between the Lives and Works of John Flaxman and Aubrey Beardsley (New Connections: Studies in Interdisciplinarity, Volume 10) Details
Review «The astonishing parallels between Flaxman and Beardsley, the one long dead before the other was born, are here examined in depth for the first time. The illness and suffering that connects the one to the other produces in both strikingly similar manifestations of religious mysticism and artistic expression. The reader witnesses the unfolding of a fascinating series of patterns, revealed always with clarity and often with grace.» (Robert Enggass) «In a refreshingly original approach, Dr. Bell has fused the lives and art of two British artists who lived a century apart. What emerges is a fascinating dialogue between two masters whose linear grace and purity often conceal strange psychological depths.» (Robert Rosenblum, New York University) Read more About the Author The Author: Daniel O. Bell received his Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Georgia in 1991. His areas of research included ancient Greek art and the Italian Baroque as well as the works of Flaxman and Beardsley. Confined to a wheelchair by hemophilia he nevertheless won numerous academic awards and published on Tiepolo and Raphael. As this book went to press, Dr. Bell died at age forty-one from a subdural brain hemorrhage. Read more
Reviews
It would hardly be proper for me to write a true review of "A Pious Bacchanal," but perhaps a few personal words will suffice. As editor and widow of the author, Daniel Orth Bell, Ph.D., I was involved with every aspect of the book's creation, from title page to index. Daniel, myself and our daughter Katie lived and breathed the wonderful drawings of Mr. Beardsley and Mr. Flaxman for over a decade. In fact, at the age of five, the works of these fascinating, if eccentric, British geniuses were probably as familiar to Katie as the characters of "Sesame Street". But though the manuscript itself was nearly done, the tragic death of my husband at the age of 41 left many details incomplete. As a tribute to Daniel's indomitable spirit, I vowed to finish what he could not, and with Katie's help, the book went to press at last. Never before linked by any art historian, Flaxman and Beardsley are compared with skill and empathy. The health problems and deep spiritual questions these artists faced are examined in depth, and Beardsley scholars in particular will derive a plethora of new insights from "A Pious Bacchanal". In every sense of the phrase, this book was a labor of love, and it is my fondest hope that readers across the world will give it the acclaim it truly deserves. Thank you!