№ 20 reading list | Lee Krasner exhibition

I am sitting on the patio, under an awning, taking in the spring, the scent of purple and white lilacs from a corner of the garden. One by one, book podcasts are playing on the tablet. Let's take a look at the reading list. Last year a new translation, by poet Michael Hofmann, of the classic Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin was published by New York Review Books. I like their book design and have added many of their titles to my wish list. I never read the old translation and therefore, have no comparison. It's set in the underworld of Berlin, the Weimer Republic in the 1920s, and the book starts when Franz Biberkopf - shall we say the colourful? - is released from prison, determined to turn his life around. The other book I bought for the list is The Years by Annie Ernaux, which I mentioned in my last entry. The others are from the library.

№ 20 reading list:
1  The Years  by Annie Ernaux
2  Berlin Alexanderplatz  by Alfred Döblin
3  The Wife  by Meg Wolitzer
4  The Mexican Night  by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
5  The Garden Party  by Katherine Mansfield
6  It All Adds Up  by Saul Bellow
7  The Diary of Anaïs Nin 1931-1934 

Translated by: 1) The Years: Alison L. Strayer; 2) Berlin Alexanderplatz: Michael Hofmann

It has been years since I read a volume of Anaïs Nin's diaries and it felt soothing somehow to pick up the one on the list, which starts in 1931. For a long time, I have been meaning to read stories by Katherine Mansfield, having been introduced to her work through Virginia Woolf's diaries and letters. The short story collection The Garden Party starts well and the writing style already appeals to me. Mansfield was only 34 when she died and one can only imagine what she could have accomplished as a writer.

Lee Krasner, Desert Moon, 1955

This summer I wouldn't mind taking a cultural trip to London, to see the exhibition Lee Krasner: Living Colour in the art gallery of the Barbican Centre, which opens on 30 May. Lee Krasner (1908–1984) was an American artist, born in Brooklyn; a pioneer of abstract expressionism. The catalogue says that her 'energetic work reflects the spirit of possibility in post-war New York' and the exhibition 'tells the story of a formidable artist, whose importance has too often been eclipsed by her marriage to Jackson Pollock.'

This is the first major presentation of Lee Krasner's art in Europe for more than 50 years, organised by the Barbican Centre, London in collaboration with these museums: Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern and Guggenheim Bilbao. Coinciding with the exhibition is the Thames & Hudson publication of Lee Krasner: Living Colour by Eleanor Nairne.

In October, here in Germany, we can enjoy the art of Lee Krasner when the exhibition opens in the museum Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt.

Artist Lee Krasner in her studio

Lee Krasner, Palingenesis, 1971

top image by me | Lee Krasner paintings via Barbican Centre: 1) LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 2) Kasmin Gallery, NY | Krasner in her studio: Kasmin Gallery via Artsy. © The Pollock-Krasner Foundation.

№ 7 reading list | Vanessa Bell exhibition

In an old notebook of mine there is a quote that always makes me laugh. Actress Emma Thompson was featured in NYT 's By the Book and when asked about the last book that had made her cry, she said: 'I was on holiday years ago with “Corelli’s Mandolin.” Rendered inconsolable and had to be put to bed for the afternoon' (Sunday Book Review, 23.09.2012). I adore Emma Thompson. It's time for another reading list and Bernières's book is on it, a Vintage Books edition, beautifully illustrated by Rob Ryan. There is also a novel by my favourite Icelandic author, Sigurdur Palsson, whom I often spotted at cafés in Reykjavik, always impeccably dressed, usually wearing a patterned silk scarf or a beret (he studied in France). I have already mentioned Doris Lessing and me rereading Little Women. Here is the № 7 reading list, the first of 2017 (for convenience I have numbered the lists):

1  Fictions  by Jorge Luis Borges
2  The Grass is Singing  by Doris Lessing
3  The Golden Notebook  by Doris Lessing
4  Captain Corelli's Mandolin  by Louis De Bernières
5  Instead of a Book: Letters to a Friend  by Diana Athill
6  Local Souls  by Allan Gurganus
7  Parísarhjól  by Sigurður Pálsson [Icelandic]
8  Little Women  by Louisa May Alcott
9  In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and Modernism in Paris, 1900-1910  by

Sue Roe

I almost feel guilty for not having read Athill's memoir, Instead of a Letter, but when I saw Instead of a Book on sale at Waterstones I knew it was going on my list. It contains the letters she wrote for over thirty years to the American poet Edward Field, who kept them and wanted them published. In the introduction, Athill wittily observes:

Usually when someone's letters are published the writer is dead. In this case there was a problem: Edward is six years younger than I am, but since I'm ninety-three that doesn't make him young. If he waited until I was dead he might be dead too. (p. vii)

Kudos to writers who crack you up in a bookshop! Gurganus is an author I have never read. I bought his book after listening to Michael Silverblatt's conversation with him on the Bookworm (from Nov. 2013) and ended up listening to all their conversations. I thought about keeping it on the shelf until I had read Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, but it kept pulling and on the list it went. I was delighted to find Roe's book at that library. At this point I cannot say much about it, but I do wish it had more illustrations (in my image you see Modigliani's painting Caryatid, 1911).

Vanessa Bell, Nude with Poppies, 1916

Sometimes I wish I lived closer to the London area. If I did I would hop on a train to see the Vanessa Bell exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery that opens today (a short train ride from central London). Artist Vanessa Bell (1879–1961) belonged to the bohemian Bloomsbury group and was Virginia Woolf's sister (the photo of her in my image above is taken at Charleston in 1925). The exhibition closes on the 4th of June. There is an accompanying publication, Vanessa Bell, edited by Sarah Milroy (Philip Wilson Publishers) that I would like to have. If you are a Bell fan perhaps the March 2017 collectors' edition of Harper's Bazaar UK will interest you, exclusively available at Dulwich Picture Gallery.

PS. Thanks to blogger Diana Mieczan of exPress-o for her delightful entry about my blog. She is correct, my coffee cup is almost every time set on a cloth napkin. I have been doing this for a long time and like to believe the coffee tastes better.

top image by me | photo of Vanessa Bell appears in the book Charleston: A Bloomsbury House & Garden | Amedeo Modigliani's painting appears in the book In Montmartre © Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris | Vanessa Bell art via Art UK © 1961 estate of Vanessa Bell, courtesy Henrietta Garnett, Swindon Art Gallery

Coffee table books: Bitten by Witch Fever

Recently I mentioned that I had a few coffee table books in sight. Some of them have already been published; others will soon be or in the spring, like Hokusai: Beyond the Great Wave. On the list below is one that I'm currently reading with great interest, Lucinda Hawksley's book Bitten by Witch Fever: Wallpaper & Arsenic in the Victorian Home, a Christmas gift from a friend. It presents 275 facsimile samples of wallpaper designs that have all been tested positively for arsenic content.

For some time I have wanted to see a new art book on my coffee table and I believe I have found the right one, Hokusai: Beyond the Great Wave. The book features 300 illustrations of works by the great Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), created during the last thirty years of his life. Its publication (early May) coincides with an exhibition that opens at the British Museum on the 25th of May, and closes in August. How I would love to travel to London to see it and spend a few days in the Bloomsbury area.

Katsushika Hokusai's, Clear day with a southern breeze (Red Fuji), 1831

Let us take a look at the list of the coffee table books I'm interested in, in random order with a comment on each (you may already have spotted some in the blog's sidebar):

· The Japanese House: Architecture and Life: 1945 to 2017  by Pippo Ciorra and Florence Ostende (Marsilio). If architecture is your thing this book is a comprehensive study of Japanese architecture since the Second World War.
· The Long Life of Design in Italy: B&B Italia. 50 Years and Beyond  by Stefano Casciani (Skira). In 1966, Piero Ambrogio Busnelli established the Italian furniture company B&B Italia and now we are able to enjoy its story in a beautiful book (see a short video on their website).
· Blumarine: Anna Molinari by Elena Loewenthal, edited by Maria Luisa Frisa (Rizzoli). The Queen of Roses, designer Anna Molinari of the Italian fashion house Blumarine has many fans. I believe fashion design enthusiasts are waiting for the publication of this one, which contains photographs by the likes of Helmut Newton, Tim Walker, Albert Watson, and Craig McDean. I think I would buy it for the cover alone!
· Adobe Houses: House of Sun and Earth  by Kathryn Masson (Rizzoli). I would really like to get my hands on this book that presents twenty-three Californian homes, showing both interiors and gardens. Adobe houses with whitewashed walls and exposed beams ... yes please.
· Art House: The Collaboration of Chara Schreyer & Gary Hutton by Alisa Carroll (Assouline). A visual feast: five residences designed to house 600 works of art, a collaboration of art collector Schreyer with interior designer Hutton.
· Flourish: Stunning Arrangements with Flowers and Foliage by Willow Crossley (Kyle Books). If you are looking for a new decorative style for your home by using flowers I'm sure Willow Crossley's new book will inspire you, and Emma Mitchell's beautiful photography.
· Around That Time: Horst at Home in Vogue by Valentine Lawford and Ivan Shaw (Abrams Books). I still haven't found this one in a bookshop, I have only seen magazine features (one spotted in my bottom image). It contains, among others, photographs by Horst P. Horst that appeared in Vogue's Book of Houses, Gardens, People from 1968 (his partner Valentine Lawford wrote the text). The foreword is written by Vogue's Hamish Bowles. Here is a sneak peek.
· Bitten by Witch Fever: Wallpaper & Arsenic in the Victorian Home by Lucinda Hawksley (Thames & Hudson, published in association with The National Archives). The aforementioned book that presents 275 facsimile samples of wallpaper designs, including e.g. Corbière, Son & Brindle, Christopher Dresser and Morris & Co. (See more below.)
· Hokusai: Beyond the Great Wave by Timothy Clark, Shugo Asano and Roger Keyes (Thames & Hudson). The aforementioned book about the Japanese influential master Katsushika Hokusai that features artworks he created during his last thirty years. It also gives his daughter Eijo (Ōi) a due attention, an artist of the late 19th century Edo period. The publication coincides with a British Museum exhibition opening in May.

A detail of Hokusai's, The poet Rihaku lost in wonder at the majesty of the great waterfall

I had to include these two Hokusai's woodblock pieces in this blog entry. His career spanned over seven decades but most people are familiar with his later work. The blue colour, or the Prussian blue, as it has been called, has always fascinated me and drawn me to his art.

For those interested in viewing more pieces by Hokusai (or any other artist) there is a wonderful selection of his artworks on Artsy and an editorial piece containing some fun facts. Artsy is a website I only recently added to my bookmarks and which instantly became a favourite (they also have a podcast). Artsy's mission is to make all the world’s art accessible to anyone with an Internet connection.

'Blue Bird Amongst the Strawberries', a pattern by Charles F. A. Voysey, recalls William Morris's
well-known 'Strawberry Thief' of 1883. From the book Bitten by Witch Fever, p. 131

By reading Bitten by Witch Fever: Wallpaper & Arsenic in the Victorian Home, which I haven't finished, I have realised that I was blissfully unaware that poisonous pigments were used in wallpaper design without being considered dangerous (it was Carl Wilhelm Scheele who in 1775 used arsenic to create a green pigment, Scheele's Green, that became popular and was used e.g. to create a vibrant colour for wallpapers):

Many dismissed as ludicrous the doctors who held that the wallpapers were poisonous, including English wallpaper designer William Morris, who stated that they 'were bitten as people were bitten by the witch fever'. (p. 7)

I had to leaf through the final chapter to learn that the first arsenic-free wallpapers weren't produced in Britain until 1859, with 'little public recognition'. By the 1870s, Morris & Co. finally 'bent to public pressure' and then it became 'big news' (p. 226). This book is indeed interesting, not to mention beautifully designed: There are seven short chapters - they look like brochures - in between pages of colour coded plates that show the wallpapers tested for arsenic content.

Pale green. Corbière, Son & Brindle, London, UK, 1879. From the book
Bitten by Witch Fever, Plates V, p. 141

images by me | Katsushika Hokusai art via: 1. The British Museum, 2. Thames & Hudson Spring 2017 Catalogue

№ 5 reading list: Booktober 2016

Most delightful conversations between authors took place at a Lannan Literary event in April when Zadie Smith and Karl Ove Knausgård shared the stage. Karl Ove was there to read from his work Some Rain Must Fall, the fifth My Struggle book, and Zadie to introduce and interview him. She started the conversations with a witty story: At the airport, on her way to the event, she heard a woman saying to a friend: 'What kind of a person even says that out loud?' And she thought: 'I'm gonna go meet him now. I know exactly who it is.'

Those who have read Karl Ove's revealing-it-all autobiographical novels are probably smiling now or laughing. At least the audience was. Book 1 is on my Booktober reading list and I'm so glad that I finally took the plunge. I wasn't sure the My Struggle books (Min Kamp in Norwegian) were for me, plus I'm always a bit sceptic about works that become immensely popular. But there was something that kept pulling me and when I realised that I had more or less listened to every other conversation with Karl Ove on YouTube I said to myself, This is getting ridiculous, knowing so much about these books and not reading them. I have hardly put the book down but I'm saving Book 2 for my next list and instead reading another work by him. Here is my list, which will stretch well into November:

1  A Death in the Family: My Struggle 1  by Karl Ove Knausgård
2  A Time for Everything  by Karl Ove Knausgård
3  White Teeth  by Zadie Smith
4  NW  by Zadie Smith
5  Americanah  by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
6  Purple Hibiscus  by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
7  Avid Reader: A Life  by Robert Gottlieb

I have followed Zadie Smith for a long time - she has such charisma on the literary stage - but never read any of her works until now when I bought her first novel, White Teeth, and borrowed NW at the library (sometimes it's all about the timing). Her new novel, Swing Time, will soon be published and I'm spotting Zadie-features all over the media, e.g. an interview in T Magazine by novelist Jeffrey Eugenides. She graces the cover of the latest The Gentlewoman, issue No. 14, Autumn and Winter 2016. I wanted to buy it but haven't found it in my town. Another author with charisma is the Nigerian Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I loved Half of a Yellow Sun, read it twice and will probably read it again. I have wanted to listen to conversations between Zadie and Chimamanda at the Schomburg Center in Harlem in NY. I started watching and loved them together but before continuing I'm going to read Americanah, which I bought this summer. When I'm done with the novels on my list I'm reading editor Robert Gottlieb's memoir that was just published. As I write this, my copy is on its way in the mail and I'm so looking forward to holding it in my hands.

Georgia O'Keeffe, Black Cross with Stars and Blue, 1929

In August, when we were in London, my older daughter and I went to see the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibition at Tate Modern; one of the reasons for the trip. She had learned about O'Keeffe in art classes and it was my first O'Keeffe exhibition. Seeing many of my favourite paintings close up was a thrilling experience. One of them was Black Cross with Stars and Blue, 1929, which you can spot in my images:

This painting depicts a cross of the Penitente sect of Catholicism, frequently sited within the New Mexico landscape, but viewed here against the outline of Taos Mountain, a sacred site for the local Native American community. The composition thus emphasises O'Keeffe's understanding of the layering of cultural identity on the American landscape. As she described: 'It was in the late light and the cross stood out – dark against the evening sky. If I turned a little to the left, away from the cross, I saw the Taos Mountain – a beautiful shape. I painted the cross against the mountain although I never saw it that way.' (Tate, p. 68)

Another painting was Abstraction White Rose, 1927. I swear I had to stifle a scream when I saw it; my heart was beating faster when I stood in front of it. The exhibition closes at the end of October and I encourage you to see it if you are in London.

Booktober reading list in the making

images by me | Georgia O'Keeffe art via Studio International