Faces: 78 Portraits from Madonna to the Pope [Hardcover]

Steve Brodner (Introduction), Hanoch Piven (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2002

In "Faces by Hanoch Piven: 78 Portraits from Madonna to the Pope," Piven has taken the art of caricature to a whole new level. Within the seven categories of TV, film, music, American politics, the world, finance, and miscellaneous, this book presents 78 deliciously wicked takes on the likes of such diverse folks as Sigmund Freud, Marilyn Monroe, and the Unabomber.

With a minimalist stroke of his deft hand, combined with an object related to what the subject is noted for - along with his sharp wit - Piven presents his vision of the celebrities he portrays. Thus we have Steven Spielberg's beard and mustache expressed with strips of film; Jesse Jackson's mouth is a speaker; and, of course, Barbra Steisand's nose is a microphone. This delightful collection of portraits sheds new light on the most familiar faces of our time.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hanoch Piven was born in Uruguay, raised in Israel, and schooled in the United States at The School of Visual Arts in New York City. His incisive portraits have been published in the United States in such major magazines as Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Entertainment Weekly, and The New York Times; his work has also appeared in publications in Spain, France, England, Norway, Italy, and Israel.

Piven was awarded a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators of New York for his illustration of Barbra Streisand. His first children's book, The Perfect Purple Feather, a bestseller in Israel, has recently been published in the U.S. by Little & Brown.

Piven currently lives in Barcelona with his wife and two children.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 88 pages
• Publisher: Pomegranate (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764921312
• ISBN-13: 978-0764921315
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,352,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The colorful and witty illustrations of Israeli illustrator Hanoch Piven have appeared throughout the last 18 years on both sides of the Atlantic: in most major American magazines and newspapers such as Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone and in many European publications from The London Times to the Swiss Die WeltWoche

Piven's work is in the permanent collection of The Prints and Photographs Division of The Library of Congress in Washington DC where he presented his award-winning book: "What Presidents Are Made of". Time Magazine chose "What Presidents Are Made of" as one of the best 10 children books of 2004.

Piven has published 6 other children books in the USA, most recently "My Best Friend is as Sharp as a Pencil" published by Random House's imprint Schwartz and Wade in March 2010.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars From the Publisher (Unabridged), November 21, 2005

By 

Earl R. Sutton "earlsutton" (Detroit, MI, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faces: 78 Portraits from Madonna to the Pope (Hardcover)

"Hanoch Piven has taken the art of caricature to a whole new level. With a minimalist stroke of his deft hand, combined with an object related to what the subject is noted for--along with his sharp wit--Piven presents his vision of the celebrities he portrays.

"The stories Piven tells about each face are enlivened by elemental puns, developed from the three-step creative process. As Piven is sketching the subject in pencil, he is coming up with a word or two to describe the person: 'Americana' for Bruce Springsteen, 'media' for Jesse Jackson. Now he goes out 'to the field' to find the appropriate object, the field being anything from a toy store to a hardware store. Then he lays out all the stuff he has found and combines the objects, adding or culling as necessary, until he achieves the minimum amount of information the viewer needs to recognize the person.

"Thus we have Steven Spielberg's beard and moustache expressed with strips of film; Jesse Jackson's mouth is a speaker. Within the seven categories of TV, film, music, American politics, the world, finance, and miscellaneous, Faces by Hanoch Piven presents 78 deliciously wicked takes on the likes of such diverse folk as Sigmund Freud, Marilyn Monroe, and the Unabomber.

"Piven's work has appeared in such publications as Time, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, and The Village Voice. Introduction by Steve Brodner. 88 pages, 78 full-color portraits, size: 6 3/4 x 9". Casebound book, with dust-jacket. ISBN: 0-7649-2131-2."--© Pomegranate

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Power Of Piven!, December 27, 2008

By 

Steve A. Dorris - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Faces: 78 Portraits from Madonna to the Pope (Hardcover)

This book has some spot on likenesses-especially the one of that FAT pigly she-male Rosie O'Donnel.The use of the Hostess snack products for her face is genius! Buy this book if you appreciate intelligent art.