Covarrubias (Hardcover)

~ Adriana Williams (Author), Doris Ober (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Miguel Covarrubias (1904-1956), the precociously gifted Mexican caricaturist and artist later turned anthropologist, author and ballet director, remains comparatively unfamiliar in the U.S. But he was a darling of the New York smart set during the 1920s and '30s, when his caricatures were featured in Vanity Fair and the New Yorker and he became a protege of Carl van Vechten and Alfred Knopf, who published his books. Williams's biography is thus important as the first full-scale portrait. In the course of painstakingly tracing Covarrubias's life and his association with such luminaries as Diego Rivera, Nelson Rockefeller and Carlos Chavez, Williams reveals the long-term cultural and social links between Mexican and North American elites, at a time when such links are being renewed. As granddaughter of former Mexican president Plutarco Calles and a friend of Covarrubias's American wife, Rosa Cowen, the author is well qualified to cover this material, though the book suffers from some lack of focus. Moving forward chronologically, with little interpretation, analysis or shaping, Williams depends heavily on the reminiscences of eyewitnesses to events in the lives of the Covarrubiases; and only when such events are interesting is the book interesting-as for instance, in the account of the scandalous dissolution of the couple's marriage. The illustrations would be more effective if they corresponded more closely with the text.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Miguel Covarrubias (1904-57), cari-caturist for Vanity Fair and The New Yorker and one of the most multifaceted 20th-century Mexican artists, and wife Rosa Rolanda Covarrubias (d. 1970), an acclaimed New York dancer, are the subjects of this long-overdue biography. The Covarrubiases collaborated on projects that included dance, ethnology, painting, art collecting, and the development of museums to preserve Mexico's pre-Columbian heritage. In the 1930s and 1940s, their home near Mexico City became a well-known address to native and foreign artists of all disciplines. This highly readable and scrupulously researched narrative captures the brilliance of both artists and their cultural milieu. Besides a 1984 exhibition at the Smithsonian, English-language research on the Covarrubiases has been scarce. (Readers may also be interested in the Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo Museum of Mexico's comprehensive and beautiful Spanish-language catalog on the Covarrubiases, published in 1987.) Recommended for most collections.
Russell T. Clement, Brigham Young Univ. Lib., Provo, Ut.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 344 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press; 1st edition (1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292790880
• ISBN-13: 978-0292790889
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #195,272 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a genius of life and art, August 31, 2001

By	Dita "ditasays2" (NY United States) - See all my reviews

Though less well known than Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, Miguel and Rosa Covarrubias were much more interesting as people and as artists. Miguel Covarrubias had the good fortune to emerge in a golden age when art and adventure met at the fabulous intersection that was the 1920s. It is unimaginable now that a serious anthropolgist could have been regularly published as a caricaturist for Vanity Fair, and simultaneously take part in the Harlem Renaissance (his drawings celebrating modern urban black life remain an extraordinary and vivid document of this movement). Add to that his year-long sojourn in Bali that produced a seminal work on the culture, complete with brilliant drawings, and his innovative research on Mexico's pre-Columbian history -- and throw in the exquisiste presence of Rosa, dancer, painter and fellow-explorer...an enviable life, an inspiration to any and all who have more than one interest or talent. The book is filled with fascinating photographs and reproductions of the work created by this mesmerizing, orignal pair.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reading, July 18, 2001

By	AK "ak6" (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This book was so much fun to read! Covarrubias (and his wife Rosa) led the most fascinating lives. They were both great artists who also spent a great deal of time with other great artists, writers, musicians, actors and philanthropists of the early-mid 20th century in Mexico and the US including Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Jose Clemente Orozco, Rufino Tamayo, Georgia O'Keeffe, Zora Neal Hurston, Nelson Rockerfeller,Delores del Rio, just to name a few. Today unfortunately Miguel Covarrubias is one the great overlooked Mexican artists (writer and anthropologist) of the 20th century. He was involved with many different cultural and artistic studies including the visual arts, theater, dance, music and later ethnology and anthropology. As a student of the ancient Americas I was familiar with his work as an anthropologist but that was only a very small part of the many things he did in his short lifetime. He has made significant contributions to the world of art through his famous caricatures for Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, numerous books and drawings as cultural studies especially of the Island of Bali and ancient Mexican cultures, incredible murals, and stunning portraits of many of the artistic celebrities of his time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate Covarrubias, June 24, 2008

By	Carol Miller (Mexico, D.F. Mexico) - See all my reviews

There is no better documentation of Covarrubias, his charmed and richly productive life, and the complicity of his partnership with Rosa, until it all fell apart. An invaluable resource, revealing a singular chapter in 20th century art, society, and the rediscovery of the ancient Mexican legacy.