Leonard and Reva Brooks: Artists in Exile in San Miguel de Allende (Hardcover)

by John Virtue (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Virtue's extensive research into the lives of Leonard and Reva Brooks opens our eyes to the circle of Canadian artists who made their home in San Miguel, Mexico. The book is an excellent resource for students of Canadian art and culture and a timely record of a passing generation of artists." Anna Hudson, assistant curator, Canadian Art, Art Gallery of Ontario

Product Description
In 1947 Leonard and Reva Brooks left for Mexico where Leonard planned to study painting for a year. In Mexico they discovered a vibrant, sometimes even dangerous, society and a dynamic artistic community, unlike the mundane world they had left behind in Canada with its stale and unwelcoming artistic scene. Invigorated by their new environment Leonard and Reva ended up staying for over half a century, playing a key role in establishing San Miguel de Allende as a world-famous art colony. In this new biography, John Virtue chronicles the lives of these two important artists and offers an intimate look at these complex and creative people. Virtue describes how they were caught up in the McCarthy era of Communist witch hunts and blacklisted in the United States. He details their close friendships with luminary figures such as Marshall McLuhan, Earle Birney, and the Mexican art icon David Alfaro Siqueiros, as well as a host of others. As Leonard became a fixture in the Mexican art scene Reva's photography quickly garnered international recognition, applauded by photographers Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. In 1975 the San Francisco Museum of Art selected her as one of the top fifty female photographers of all time. With tales of deportations, shootouts, murder attempts, failures, and triumphs, Leonard and Reva Brooks is a biography of two creative people caught up in interesting times.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 488 pages
• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0773522980
• ISBN-13: 978-0773522985
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 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: #1,678,980 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Artists in Exile, April 10, 2002

By A Customer

John Virtue has done a splendid job in researching, writing and assembling this highly readable and beautifully conceived volume--part biography, part art book, part history. In Leonard and Reva Brooks: Artists in Exile in San Miguel de Allende, he has recorded the lives of two fascinating individuals who chose to settle in this small Mexican art community in 1947 and has shed light on the Mexican and Canadian art scene of the time. In addition, he has created a moving portrait of the expatriate community and life in this unique Mexican town. (San Miguel de Allende should award him the keys to the city.)