Picasso's World of Children (Pegasus Library) - Hardcover

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

This is an auspicious beginning for a series that aims to provide an "intimate alternative to the overload of the Information Age." Each title focuses on one aspect of an artist's work in some detail, with texts by outstanding scholars (the Chagall book is a reduced version of lithographs published in 1961, with Longus's text in translation); each wears its learning lightly and succeeds in reaching the perhaps mythical serious general reader. Hoberg lets her protagonists speak for themselves in letters and documents that show how their relationship unfolded in Munich during the first two decades of the century. Spies has many interesting things to say about children in the art of Picasso, a notoriously bad father in real life. Each of the scholarly books does a good job of relating the artist's personal life to the work, and the illustrations and production values of all three works are quite good. Highly recommended for general collections; Hoberg and Spies can also find a place in more advanced art collections.
Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Lib.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.