Gertrude Stein: In Words and Pictures [Paperback]

Renate Stendhal (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 1994

"After an astonishing, playful essay, the book opens into a revelatory combination of quotes, quips and 360 photos of Stein and her wildly brilliant circle."--Elle

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It is perhaps apt that a woman best known for such aphorisms as "a rose is a rose is a rose" should be rendered in them. Stendahl has constructed a "photo-biography" of the "Mother of Modernism"-360 photographs, 100 of which have never before been published, are interspersed with timelines and excerpts culled from Stein's works and letters, and the words of others, including Hemingway and Harold Acton. The chapters of interest to most readers will be those focusing on the Paris years, when Stein opened her house at 27, rue des Fleurus to Fauvist and Cubist painters (Picasso, Gris and Picabia, among others) and later to the American writers of the "Lost Generation." Here are Cecil Beaton and Man Ray's photographic portraits of Stein and her studio, including the throne-like chair in which she presided over her Saturday night salons, and the enviable view from the desk at which she wrote her novel Three Lives: it faced a wall upon which hung Matisse's Le Bonheur de Vivre and Cezanne's Portrait de Mme. Cezanne. Though there are some redundancies, Stendahl has put together an impressive book on an impressive woman, about whom she rightly observes, "In the context of [today's] performance art and new forms of writing, Stein's work seems less and less alien. If we were to see her today... dressed in her army coat and leopard hat, how seamlessly she would fit into the contemporary artists' scene."
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This pictorial biography of Stein, originally published in Switzerland in 1989, contains 360 photographs (100 previously unpublished) depicting Stein and Alice B. Toklas, their artist and writer cohorts, and views of relevant locales. Stendhal provides an undemanding introduction, with biographical and literary information as well as some interesting thoughts on reading and understanding Stein. A fairly detailed chronology prefaces each chapter, and each photograph has an applicable quotation extracted from the work of Stein and others. In assembling this work, Stendhal has drawn heavily on Everybody's Autobiography and the Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas as well as diaries and writings by family members and peers. Snapped by the likes of Man Ray, Cecil Beaton, and Carl Van Vechten, the images visually document an unconventional and photogenic life and, even without the quotations, have power of their own. Recommended for literature, art history, and women's studies collections.
Janice Braun, Hoover Inst. Lib., Stanford, Cal.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books; 1st edition (January 10, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0945575998
• ISBN-13: 978-0945575993
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #367,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This should be the first Stein book in any collection!, May 9, 1999

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Paris fan "thegert" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Gertrude Stein: In Words and Pictures (Paperback)

At last this book is back in print! Using Stein's words and pictures of her, her contemporaries and the places that were the backdrops of their lives, Renate Stendhal has created one of the most vital picture-bios of Stein and her era. The introductory essays at the beginning of each chapter set the stage for what follows, giving the reader a clear chronology and context. The excerpts from Stein's works are helpful in determining which of Stein's works(many of which are still in print) you'll want to read next. Everyone who was anyone in their crowd is here. A great gift for anyone interested in the literary/artistic period between WWI and WWII.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book, March 17, 2011

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C. A CAVE (New Mexico) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gertrude Stein: In Words and Pictures (Paperback)

Stendahl's photographic bio of Gertrude Stein includes a treasure trove of photos of Gertrude Stein and her partner Alice Toklas, as well as many of their friends and acquaintances. Most of the texts are from Gertrude Stein's writings, though there are a number from friends, enemies, and even news clippings. Stendahl has managed to merge them all into a seamless, flawless whole that functions as a biography leading us from Gertrude Stein's childhood to her death.

After finishing "Gertrude Stein: In Words and Pictures," for the first time I feel as though I actually knew her, and I'm very pleased to have made her acquaintance. She comes across as a whole human being, strengths and weaknesses together, with penetrating insight, a great sense of irony and humor, and a warmth I would have like to have known first-hand. As a bonus, I feel I now understand what she was trying to achieve with her unique and controversial writing style.

To apply my ultimate test to any book, yes, I was sorry when it ended and look forward to reading it all over again. And again.