From Publishers Weekly
Like Richard Avedon's noted portrait photographs, Bachardy's pencil and ink wash drawings (from early in his career) and his later pen and brush, and then just brush, paintings distill the essence of a sitter with a startlingly blunt honesty that is often not very flattering. Bachardy, whose work hangs in such museums as the Metropolitan in New York and London's National Portrait Gallery, has assembled portraits of 33 noted personalities in the artsAincluding Maggie Smith, Laurence Olivier, Linda Ronstadt, Ellsworth Kelly, James Merrill, Iris Murdoch, Ruby KeelerAalong with his diary entries about the sittings, which occurred between 1973 and 1984. As striking as his drawings are, his perceptive and informative journal entries are what make this collection so vital. Candid, often witty and decidedly opinionated, he spares no details about how difficult some of his subjects have been ("I will have approval of what you do today, won't I?" inquires a diffident Alice Faye). Speaking frequently of his own life (he was novelist Christopher Isherwood's lover for 33 years, beginning when Bachardy was 18 and the writer was 48), Bachardy provides a unique view of his creative process. He is at his most revealing, however, when he describes the complex interplay between subject and artist. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Portraitist Bachardy (Christopher Isherwood: Last Drawings) muses on the implications of looking and being looked at in this book comprising drawings of celebrities and diary entries spanning the 1970s and 1980s. Through literary icon Isherwood (his companion of over 30 years), the artist gained entrance to a world that mesmerized him at an early age. This culmination of his work is a fascinating blend of art and anecdote. Bachardy's own interpretations, however, tend to undermine his purported intention to portray truthfulness of vision (his vision) regardless of his subjects' preconceptions. Thus, the reader is treated to a highly subjective (though entertaining) view despite the pretense of objectivity. The author seems spellbound by his subjectsDmany in the twilight of their careers, including Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Ginger Rogers, Vincente Minnelli, and Aaron CoplandDyet often becomes disenchanted to the point of cattiness (even misanthropy) when reality betrays image. As such, this "experience" of portraiture and deconstruction of image reveals as much about the artist as it does his sitters. Recommended.DJayne Plymale, Univ. of Georgia, Athens
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
