Making It New: The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy [Paperback]

Calvin Tomkins (Author), Deborah Rothschild (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520252403 | ISBN-13: 978-0520252400 | Publication Date: August 27, 2007 | Edition: 1

Paris in the 1920s--art, literature, the Lost Generation. The glitterati who inhabited this legendary world--F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, Cole Porter, Man Ray, Dorothy Parker, and a host of others--were members of an intimate circle centered around Sara and Gerald Murphy. Making It New: The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy is a captivating and absorbing collection of essays examining through images and text the Murphys' influence on a remarkable constellation of artists. The book also explores Gerald Murphy's abbreviated career as a painter, his artistic legacy, and the complex nature of his motivation and vision. This beautifully illustrated volume features essays by art historian Deborah Rothschild and such Murphy scholars as Calvin Tomkins, Amanda Vaill, Linda Patterson Miller, Kenneth Silver; curators Dorothy Kosinski and Kenneth Wayne; artist/writer Trevor Winkfield; musicologist Olivia Mattis; and poet and author William Jay Smith.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"Gerald and Sara Murphy took Paris by storm in the 1920s, inserting themselves into the avant-garde circles of dance, music, and art. Lively and engaging, Making It New sheds new light on the European fascination with the Murphys and provides key insights into their life and art."--Cécile Whiting, author of Pop L.A.: Art and the City in the 1960s

"By telling and retelling the story of the Murphys from various viewpoints, Making It New aims to be the first comprehensive study of their contribution to Modern Art. This book should be of wide interest to both scholars and general readers."--Elizabeth Hutton Turner, author of Americans in Paris: Man Ray, Gerald Murphy, Stuart Davis, Alexander Calder

About the Author

Deborah Rothschild is Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Williams College Museum of Art. Her publications include Picasso's "Parade": from Street to Stage; Graphic Design in the Mechanical Age: Selections from the
Merrill C. Berman Collection; and Tony Ourlser: Introjection. Dr. Rothschild organized the award-winning 2002 exhibition "Prelude to a Nightmare: Art, Politics, and Hitler's Early Years in Vienna 1906-1913."

Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (August 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520252403
• ISBN-13: 978-0520252400
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 8.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #720,334 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Living Well in the 20th Century, September 26, 2007

By 

Caliope (Eugene, OR) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Making It New: The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy (Paperback)

For those interested in 20th century literature and art, the Murphys are always a fascinating subject. Their influence was far-reaching if not obvious and their lives were filled with amazing challenges. Money helped Sarah and Gerald enter into the circles of their interests but did not save them from grief and loss. Apparently it did not spoil their enthusisam for life nor their creative ideas.
This book is especially invaluable if you are looking for depictions of Gerald Murphy's paintings. It provides plates which can be studied for evidence of his place as a bona fide artist of considerable talent. The photographs of the Murphys and their many celebrity friends are also charming.
This is a great addition to a contemporary library.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More about the Murphy's magical life, September 16, 2008

By 

Michael T Kennedy (Lake Arrowhead, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Making It New: The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy (Paperback)

I have reviewed two other books about Gerald and Sara Murphy, who lived in Paris during the great literary era of American expatriates. They knew everyone and Gerald was a serious painter in his own right. They are seen in the musical biography of Cole Porter titled, "De-Lovely" and have been the subject of several excellent biographies. This book mixes more biography with more illustrations, including many photos of the Murphys, their famous friends and their villa on the French Riviera. It is a companion to the other two biographies I have reviewed here. Read one or both of them first, then spend some time leafing through this memoir in pictures.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gerald and Sara Murphy, August 5, 2010

By 

Mary (Washington, DC, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Making It New: The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy (Hardcover)

This is an excellent account of an era,the "jazz age" in Paris., when the Murphys lived there and in the south of France,and then their later life,when tragedy became, seemingly, the order of the day for them. The essays are particularly well-written. I put the book down wanting to read more, and feeling gratified that Gerald's painting was recognized in the last years of his life.