Unexpected Journeys (Paperback)

~ Janet A. Kaplan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Kaplan has written a lively, informative narrative that zips along like an adventure story." -- Philadelphia Inquirer

"This beautifully written and illustrated book, full of wonders, is a joy to read and behold. This journey through the art and life of Remedios Varo with Janet Kaplan as guide is art history and art criticism at its best." -- Belles Lettres

Product Description

The adventures that fill the strange and wonderful paintings by Remedios Varo (1908-1963) reflect the physical and psychological journeys of her own tumultuous life.

Janet A. Kaplan's vivid chronicle, the first on the subject in English, interweaves Varo's life with the artist's exquisite work. Painted with a jewellike palette and old-master precision, Varo's intimate tableaux, rich with details of women's experience, tell fantasy tales of alchemy, science, mysticism, and magic. Fifty color reproductions capture the wit and beauty of her major paintings; numerous black-and-white illustrations document other works and portray the compelling artist with her circle of lifelong friends and admirers. The book is further enlivened by her own voice, conveyed in hilarious letters and surreal stories, published here for the first time. It concludes with an invaluable chronology as well as a newly updated bibliography and list of exhibitions.

An instant celebrity in Mexicowhere her retrospectives have drawn record crowdsVaro has recently found enthusiastic audiences in Europe, the Americas, Australia, and Japan. The fascinating story of her life and the dazzling intricacy of her art will prove a revelation.

198 illustrations, 50 in full color

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Abbeville Press (May 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789206277
• ISBN-13: 978-0789206275
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #351,672 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A competent and sensitive biography, June 19, 2000

By	E. Karasik (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My only complaint about this biography is that it left me wanting even more information. The material that was included was presented in a coherent, informative, and sensitive manner. Ms. Kaplan does an admirable job of summarizing Ms. Varo's fascinating life and illuminating the complex themes and techniques which characterize her paintings. Certainly this is a must read for any woman artist, student of surrealism, or anyone who is enchanted by the marriage of magic and science achieved by Ms. Varo's miraculous paintings. However, in comparison to some of the other recently published biographies (e.g. "The Unknown Matisse") , the material seems a bit thin. There is a paucity of information from original sources such as journals and letters, although perhaps this is a question of availability. The result, unfortunately, is that while I came away from the book feeling as though I had an excellent introduction to Ms. Varo's life and work, I did not feel that I had experienced the texture of her life which would come from reading a more richly detailed biography.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It lifted my heart, September 16, 2001

By	Cynthia Wall "Cynthia Wall, LCSW" (Fort Bragg, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was lent this book--and I hated to give it back! I showed it to 10 friends, all of whom wrote down the title and publisher, wanting to spend the $30+ just to have it to see and share with others. As a contemporary of Salvador Dali and a serious art student in Spain, she evokes images and thought forms that bear looking at in person. Oh, I'd LOVE to attend to her work in an art gallery.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful...and well worth the price!, August 28, 2004

By	someone - See all my reviews

If you have stumbled upon this wonderful book, then I congratulate you. The next step is to buy it, because it is the only comprehensive book on Remedios Varo I know of. If you are not familiar with the work of Varo, she was a Surrealist painter and a contemporary of such artists as Dali, Magritte, and Leonora Carrington (to whom she is frequently compared, though in my humble opinion Varo's work is much more fantastic and delicate). Her work, though shamefully underrated, establishes her as an extremely talented artist with an eye for incredible detail and an imagination that rivals that of Bosch and Dali. As for the book itself, Janet Kaplan has done an incredible amount of research (she actually had to travel to Spain and Mexico to get the information) for this book, which offers Varo's biography and some excellent interpretations of her paintings, which are reproduced on the pages in gorgeous, large color plates and even more black and white sketches and prints. Please buy this book and familiarize yourself with Remedios Varo, despite the brow-raising price: to allow her to remain unnoticed would be a travesty.