Farewell to the Muse

October 9, 2017
Chadwick (Women, Art, and Society) offers an informative and often moving account of the intersecting lives of women surrealists during the rise of Franco in Spain in the 1930s and the outbreak of WWII. Chadwick charts the extraordinary and accomplished lives these politically-engaged women led independently of their husbands and lovers. He profiles Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, who famously became a cult figure in her own lifetime despite working in the shadow of her husband, Diego Rivera; he also explores the lesser-known lives of women such as photographer Claude Cahun and illustrator Suzanne Malherbe, who, during the German occupation of France, narrowly escaped death for their involvement in the resistance, and Lee Miller, a Vogue photographer turned war correspondent, known for her arresting images of the aftermath of the London Blitz and the atrocities at the Dachau concentration camp. Chadwick notes that, for all their differences, her subjects share a common refusal to passively live only as inspirations to men, a notion best articulated by painter Leonora Carrington, who asserted, “I didn’t have time to be anyone’s muse.... I was too busy rebelling against my family and learning to be an artist.” This is an accessible and invigorating study of female friendship and art history. Photos.

October 15, 2017
An expert in the lives and art of women surrealists, esteemed art historian Chadwick now zeroes in on their life-changing friendships as they sought to free themselves from the passive role of muse to the male surrealists and come into their own as artists, only to find their quests traumatically complicated by WWII. Chadwick channels the intensity of these courageous and radical women in stories of astonishing resiliency, camaraderie, complicated love, and creative synergy. She chronicles the passionate connection between Frida Kahlo and Jacqueline Lamba Breton, the intricate alliance between Leonor Fini and Leonora Carrington, and the healing relationship between poet Valentine Boue Penrose and war photographer Lee Miller, the sequential wives of Roland Penrose, the surrealists' steadfast patron. And then there's the staggering tale of the Resistance heroes Claude Cahun, photographer and writer, and illustrator Suzanne Malherbe. Set within a vividly realized historical context, steeped in psychological perceptions, and richly illustrated, Chadwick's unique look at the women of surrealism deepens our understanding of the movement and the lives of women artists in a time of chaos and catastrophic war.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)