Roger Fry: A Biography [Paperback]

Virginia Woolf (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1976

Virginia Woolf's only true biography, written to commemorate a devoted friend and one of the most renowned art critics of this century, who helped to bring the Postimpressionist movement from France to England and America. Index; illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Once again in harmonious and luminous prose emerges a portrait of stature, this time the artist and critic who effected the recognition of modern painting. Fry broke away from his austere and circumscribed Quaker background to paint, but after years of study realised his primary function was that of criticism in which he excelled,rather than painting which he preferred. The first to introduce the moderns in England, to override the militant reaction which resulted, he became the leading teacher and interpreter. His was the ability to "accept impressions implicitly and then submit them to the test of reason" - to make painting real to the outsider. A man of deep integrity and conviction, he retained until his death a personal and aesthetic elasticity which enabled him to further new trends. No other writer today has Virginia Woolf's purity of style, critical subtlety, but here there is greater perfection than warmth, intellect than feeling. This will limit the sales potentialities of the book. (Kirkus Reviews )

From the Back Cover

The last book Virginia Woolf saw into print before her death, Roger Fry, is her one serious full-length biography. "I can't help thinking," she concluded, in spite of her difficulty in putting her theories of biography into practice, "I've caught a good deal of that iridescent man in my oh so laborious butterfly net."

This edition is based on the text first published by the Hogarth Press in 1940, amended to include corrections Woolf requested but which were never made in the impressions printed by the Press before her death. A relatively complete typescript version of the biography survives, as part of the Berg collection at the New York Public Library, and the results of a computer collation of this typescript with the first English edition are included in a list of substantive variants. These document Woolf's revising and editing process in response to stylistic concerns and to the actual or anticipated reactions of her readers, including Fry's family and friends.

In her introduction, Diane F. Gillespie traces Woolf's work on the biography, including the problems she faced and the solutions she found, and provides a history of its critical reception. Annotations identify sources as well as the historical and personal contexts of Fry's remarks and experiences. Other appendices contain previously unpublished materials: memoirs by Roger Fry and a further, brief, attempt by Woolf to sketch his portrait in words. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; 1st ptg. edition (March 15, 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 015678520X
• ISBN-13: 978-0156785204
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #648,448 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

VIRGINIA WOOLF (1882-1941) was one of the major literary figures of the twentieth century. An admired literary critic, she authored many essays, letters, journals, and short stories in addition to her groundbreaking novels.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Roger Fry, June 22, 2000

By 

Margaret L. Askew & James Patrick Foley - See all my reviews

This review is from: Roger Fry: A Biography (Paperback)

This biography is written by one of the best writers of the 20th century and concerns one of the most influential art critics of visual art. Roger Fry loved traditional Italian art and was converted through a very gradual and natural process to become an advocate for modern art. Roger Fry came to see and apprecaite his contemporaries in visual art as making and having made important contributions. Time has proved Roger Fry correct and his critics wrong. Who among us doesn't not know that van Gogh, Gaugain and Cezanne are important artists? Virginia Woolf is a perceptive and excellent writer. This is her only bow to biography. It is a pleasure to read about a significant personality written by such a good writer.