Böcker av Adrian Clark

A pioneering collector of Cubist art, the English art historian and critic Douglas Cooper was one of the most important—and controversial—figures in the international art world of the 20th century   Born into a wealthy family whose money was made in the 19th century in Australia, Cooper (1911- 1984) built up much of his collection of works by Picasso, Braque, Gris and Léger in the 1930s. He also trained himself to become a respected art historian, his reputation as a scholar resting largely on his catalogue of the Courtauld Collection (1954) and his catalogue raisonné of Juan Gris (1977). He also curated exhibitions of Gauguin, Braque and two major displays of Cubism. The second of these, The Essential Cubism, held at the Tate Gallery in 1983, was one of the most remarkable accumulations of Cubist painting, sculpture and drawings ever assembled.   Based on extensive research and packed with new material and fresh interpretations, IRASCIBLE! focuses attention on Cooper’s colourful life and significant accomplishments: his financing and directorship of the Mayor Gallery in London as a very young man in the 1930s, when he became close to artists such as Francis Bacon, Paul Nash, Henry Moore, Paul Klee, Joan Miró, and Max Ernst; his wartime experiences as an ambulance driver in support of the collapsing French army in 1940; his job as a senior Monuments Man in charge of tracking down Nazi-looted art in Switzerland; his move to Provence in the early 1950s, taking his collection with him; and his legendary clashes with leading figures and institutions in the British art world. This book is the definitive account of Cooper’s collecting, art dealing, writing and curating.

Come on a journey with me, towards the sun setting in the horizon; it is through light in its eternality that I continue in this cruel, burning world. This is a love letter to the memories of old, to the people who stole a piece of me I will never get back. These words hold a facet of my existence, through love in her infinite forms; treat them gently, will you? You hold a tale of longing, of heartbreak and looming shadows; the unrelenting passage of time destroys me as much as it remakes me, and I wish to share these pieces of my heart with you.

This radical re-examination of one of the crucial periods of modern British and Irish art demolishes the idea that control of the art world passed after the War from rich individuals to faceless state institutions. This highly original book puts history back into the history of art. It approaches the British and Irish art worlds from the historical viewpoint, avoiding theories unsupported by facts. Individual artists discussed include Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Henry Moore, John Piper, Graham Sutherland, Gerard Dillon, Robert Colquhoun, Paul Nash and many more.

Adrian Clark's thoroughly researched account of the origins and professional life of John Rothenstein, covers his highs and lows and tries to give a balanced view and summary of the achievements of this remarkable human being.