Sebastian's Arrows: Letters and Mementos of Salvador Dali and Federico Garcia Lorca (Hardcover)

by Salvador Dali (Author), Federico Garcia Lorca (Author), Christopher Maurer (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Recipient of Foreword Magazine''s Book of the Year Award, Silver rank (Foreword Silver Book of the Year Award 20050901)

"Thoughtfully and sensitively conceived, this is an intellectually sound and compelling volume. Highly recommended."--Choice (Choice 20041001)

"An engaging and lively look at the relationship between Lorca and Dali. . . . This book demonstrates the powerful effect they had on each other and their work."--Spain (Rob Stokes Spain 20050212)

"Readers interested in either of these Spanish masters will find Sebastian''s Arrows of great interest."--Bloomsbury Review (Bloomsbury Review 20041213)

"Clear and admirably straightforward. . . . A book quite attractive to the eye and hand. It will doubtless appeal to those with an interest in Lorca and/or Dali as it brings together a selection of their own words about themselves."--British Bulletin of Publications (Canning House British Bulletin of Publications )

"The sense of two brilliant young men testing themselves against each other still comes across."--Financial Times Magazine (Financial Times Magazine )

"All through the twentieth century artists and writers collaborated almost constantly, sometimes with such intensity that it seemed as if they were passing back and forth a single flask labeled ''Inspiration.'' . . . An infinitely more transparent glimpse into an artist''s mind is to be found in Sebastian''s Arrows."--Jed Perl, The New Republic (Jed Perl The New Republic )

Product Description
"Let us agree," Federico García Lorca wrote, "that one of man’s most beautiful postures is that of St. Sebastian."

"In my ‘Saint Sebastian’ I remember you," Salvador Dalí replied to Lorca, referring to an essay he had just written, "and sometime I think he is you."

This lively, often funny exchange offers an unforgettable look at the complex relations between two renowned, highly influential 20th-century artists. Sebastian’s Arrows presents a vibrant collection of their letters, lectures, and mementos, on the centennial of Dalí’s birth.

Written between 1925 and 1936, letters and lectures bring to life a passionate friendship, a thoughtful dialogue on aesthetics, and the constant interaction of poetry and painting. From their student days in the Residencia de Estudiantes, Madrid, where the two waged war on cultural "putrefaction" and joked about the sacred cows of Spanish art, Dalí and García Lorca shared their thoughts on creation, modernity, and the meaning of their own art. In poetic skirmishes, they sharpened and shaped each others’ work. As Lorca defended his verses of absence and elegy and his love of tradition, Dalí argued for "Clarity" and "Holy Objectivity" and, later, for the poetics of collage and the unsettling logic of Surrealism.

Christopher Maurer’s helpful introduction and selection of images and texts (including a lecture previously unavailable in English) offer insight into the lives and works of two iconic artists. It was a "tragic, passionate relationship," Dalí once wrote; a friendship struck by the arrows of Saint Sebastian.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Swan Isle Press; 1 edition (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967880882
• ISBN-13: 978-0967880884
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #288,391 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From CHOICE, September 15, 2005

By	Reviewer "CHOICE" - See all my reviews

"This volume gathers an assortment of letters, works, illustrations, and photographs--some previously unpublished. In his superb introduction, Maurer (Spanish, Boston Univ.) re-creates and probes this intense friendship, bringing the reader into the wondrous and exciting world of two extraordinary young men. Written between 1925 and 1936, the letters offer intimate glimpses of this friendship and of the artistic insights of two of the dominant artistic figures of the past century. [...] Thoughtfully and sensitively conceived, this is an intellectually sound and compelling volume." F. Colecchia, CHOICE 9/05