IN THE SUMPTUOUS PAGES of "Anthony Quinn's Eye, "one encounters the world of one of the most interesting men of our time," writes poet and novelist Jay Parini. As an artist, Quinn was versatile, deft, and prolific--tirelessly sketching, painting, and sculpting to give form to an insistent inner vision. As a collector, his enthusiasm for cultural artifacts, artworks, and books was vast. "Anthony Quinn's Eye is a portrait in words and pictures of this creative force. Donald Kuspit examines the impulse behind Quinn's desire to create and collect. Quinn's legendary acting talent--"life force on celluloid"--is celebrated here by Tom Roberts, who traces Quinn's career from his days as a studio actor to the later roles that earned him a place in the cultural firmament. Personal reflections by his widow, Katherine Quinn, and longtime friend Kirk Douglas complete this unique appreciation of a fascinating man.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
As a successful actor, Anthony Quinn could easily have lived a life of mindless pleasure. This lavish record of his artistic endeavors shows he did just the opposite. Compiled largely by his second wife, Katherine, who wrote the foreword and some of the photo captions, the book shows the extensive collections Quinn built up over the years and gives an excellent overview of his own artwork. He had carvings from South Asia, a large collection of painted and carved eggs, and assorted "found" items such as giant old oxen yokes and interesting rocks or branches. Quinn was also a tireless painter and sculptor, constantly sketching while on sets or at home. Though Katherine was only with him toward the end of his career, she is clearly a knowledgeable guide to Quinn’s world, and her insights into how he saw things are revealing. She explains, for example, why he shifted toward abstract sculpture while filming Lion of the Desert (in Libya, local law banned images of women in art). Her reminiscences are written in a conversational manner and give readers a sense of the actor’s personality and interests, but unfortunately, few photographs receive more than a short caption. The other essays by Parini and Kuspit, which attempt to put Quinn’s art in a broader theoretical framework, provide less insight into the man and are overly academic; most people will be much more drawn to the lovely photographs. Quinn was often typecast in Hollywood, and for many people he will always be Zorba the Greek, but this book demonstrates that he took advantage of his movies’ successes to bring even more art into the world.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Donald Kuspit is a professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He lives in New York City. Jay Parini, a poet and novelist, lives in Weybridge, Vermont and is a professor at Middlebury College. Tom Roberts teaches cultural history at the Rhode Island School of Design and lives in Cranston, Rhode Island.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Entirely Different Look at a Wonderful Artist,
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This review is from: Anthony Quinn's Eye: A Lifetime of Creating and Collecting Art (Hardcover)
Although the great actor/artist is no longer living, he would have been delighted by this book about his life spent creating and collecting art. This is a Coffee Table Book worthy of the term. At 11 and 1/2 by 14 and 1/2 inches, the marvelous six-pound art book needs a decent sized coffee table just to display it properly. But this reviewer was not impressed by the book's size, but it's contents and the quality of the contents.
Most people have no idea that Anthony Quinn who made "Zorba the Greek" a lasting icon in the world of film, was a very talented life-long visual artist. He was born a dirt-poor Mexican boy who entered the world in a crude primitive hut while his father was off fighting with Pancho Villa. His mother had also fought side-by-side with her husband until her pregnancy banished her from the fighting front. Young Quinn won prizes for his art as a child. His drawings in high school led to an interview with one of the greatest architects of the era. Frank Lloyd Wright sent Quinn to a surgeon to have a stammer corrected. After the operation he directed Anthony to an acting school to learn how to speak correctly. Soon he was so much in demand for his acting skills and rugged looks that his grandmother encouraged him to follow that career path because he could always do his artwork for the rest of his life. Quinn did exactly that. The book includes pictures of him at work sketching on the beach between shooting movie scenes or at various other foreign locations where his film making duties took him. His personal copies of scripts were often covered with Quinn's doodles or sketches. In addition to acting and art, anyone who has read his second autobiography "One Man Tango" knows that Quinn was also a powerful writer who could bring tears to eyes of the readers of his amazing life story. There are precious few autobiographies of motion picture stars that can move readers like Quinn could even with ghost writers fictionalizing and changing many of the supposed facts. Quinn's life was so unusual that fictionalizing it probably would only have toned it down. One of the features of this book is that it includes several different types of photography. There are black and white pictures of Quinn working on some of his giant sculptures as well as "Architectural Digest" style color photographs of his home and studios in Bristol, Rhode Island. There are also numerous excellent still-life photographs of the details that made up the famous actor's artistic world. The slick photographs almost seem so sharp that they are almost three-dimensional. Combined with "Family of Man" pictures of the great actor interacting with his young family they make a terrific final edit. The book's text is brief but appropriate and it greatly helps to fill in the details of the artist's passion for art and creating. It is written by his young widow, Katherine Quinn, as well as experts in their fields Donald Kuspit, Tom Roberts and Jay Parini. All these elements are combined into a really first-class tribute to the limitless energy and creative genius of Anthony Quinn. For readers unfamiliar with the life and loves of Quinn other than through his many, many films, this will be a real "eye-opener." As Kirk Douglas adds in a brief tribute, his fellow actor and friend of fifty years won one of his Oscars for portraying Gauguin in "Lust for Life." Douglas, who co-stared in that film thought the award could not have been more appropriate for Quinn who seemed to actually morph into the great artist while portraying his life.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
He was not a great artist, but he was a prolific one, and it kept him alive,
By
This review is from: Anthony Quinn's Eye: A Lifetime of Creating and Collecting Art (Hardcover)
If you are of a certain age you remember Anthony Quinn as a protean force, not just as an actor but as a collector and artist. (In much the same way, Yul Brynner is memorable for his photography.) It's understandable. Born dirt-poor, he took refuge in art. In high school, he won a prize --- and a meeting with Frank Lloyd Wright, who told him he was talented but needed to correct a speech problem. Quinn had an operation, and then, as part of his speech therapy, took up acting.
Quinn's first important role was in Fellini's "La Strada," in which he played a strongman unable to act on his need for love. For such a man, strength thus leads to failure. Quinn seemed to live the part, but in fact, he was haunted from his earliest years with the question of authenticity. Yes, he played roles that looked real enough --- in "Zorba the Greek," he cries out, "Take off your belt and live" --- but he always knew that was acting. Art became his compulsion, and he kept at it. He was not a great artist --- you can see his influences in almost every piece --- but he was a prolific one, and it is that drive that makes this book special. He was organized. He worked at it. That kept him alive to the very end. It just might encourage a friend or relative who's getting on to do the same.
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