Customer Reviews

Leonor Fini (Reveries)

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I had hoped for a comprehensive book in English about this under-rated giant of 20th century art. Instead, the book is a re-hash of earlier books about Fini. Some of them totally off the mark about both her persona and her oeuvre. One glaring example is the telling about the cat that disappeared the day she started to paint "Heliodora". In fact, the cat made a re-appearance the day the painting was completed, totally negating the conclusions about the painting that were reached by the author. This fact was told to me personally by Fini!

Had the book been presented as one person's opinion about what she found in the work, it would be more acceptable. However, presented as it is, it does nothing but add to a great volume of mis-information about the artist.

The reproductions are badly done and credit is not given to the collections from which they were "borrowed." One wonders why the publisher did not choose to list an address in the book. Perhaps, because they did not have the right to infringe on the copyrights of their sources?

My suggestion is that the book be enjoyed simply for the ability to see Fini's images, but discounted as to veracity and correctness of conclusions. Recommend "Le Livre de Leonor Fini" (cited in the bibliography) and Leonor Fini Pienture, by Constantine Jelenski (One of the two men who lived with Fini for close to 40 years).

While I appreciate the efforts of the author, I am disappointed in the information put forth. Some of the facts are incorrect and much of the text appears to me to be unauthorized. The reproductions are interesting for Fini afficionados however, their quality is weak. There is nothing new to learn from this effort. As a personal friend of Leonor Fini and as the President of a company specializing uniquely in her work for some fifteen years, I am personally disappointed with the poor quality of this book. Sorry, but Leonor Fini deserves better!

Leonor Fini a giant of the painting world deserves a better book than the one presented by Ms. Seldson.

The accuracy of the events that the author presents in her book are totally false and sometimes seems to be invented or created by the author's mind.

As a very close friend to Madame Fini, and after spending many times together, and enjoying and feeling the presence, emotions and feelings that lived in her body, is sad to know that some authors like to make money by providing false statements and presenting a book as a biography, when it should be rated only as a book to look at the paintings shown on it.

Art History has given to Madame Fini the place she deserves in the art world, books like the one presented here, I am sure will not damage the image and figure of Leonor.

Leonor, "Gatora" as I used to call you, wherever you are, ignore the comments and remarks of the Seldson "book".

If you want to get a sample of Leonor Fini's work to get a small idea of what her style is like, then you're better off just checking it out at the library. The layout of the book is quite amature. There were also many errors.

This small book (about 5" X 8" - and less than 120 pages), contains a fair number of good quality reproductions of the artist's paintings, with some drawings. Adding to this the reasonable price, the book is very much worth buying.
As mentioned by other reviewer, the text does not provide adequate information on the life and art of Lenor Fini. Moreover, the layout, especially in view of the small format of the book, should have been better. Nevertheless, it is a useful book for someone who does not want to pay a fortune to see good examples of the work of Fini.
The reproductions in the book clairly demonstrates Fini's fascination and obessesion with the females body, with cats, with sensuality and sexuality among women, and how males are marginalized, despized, and redeculed. Moreover, the book gives us a taste of her remarkable skills in rendering smooth and rough textures, her great imagination, and the mysterious, disturbing, and erotic world she loved to create. Despite her great art, one cannot miss the distortions (at times grotesque) in anatomy and proportions of the human body, either deliberate or due to her lack of academic training. However, this does not affect much her position as one of the great surrealist artists of the 20th Century.
I should mention that I will never forget the sets she designed (as well as a poster), for the unprecedented production of the play "The Council of Love", by Oscar Panizza which I saw in paris in the 1960s.