Thursday's Three on Art

Today, Thursday's Three spotlights a trio of noteworthy art titles.

✦ The Pen and the Brush: How Passion for Art Shaped Nineteenth-Century French Novels (Other Press, January 31, 2017) ~ Historian and writer Anka Muhlstein, winner of the Prix Goncourt de la Biographie and two-time recipient of the French Academy's History Prize, has written biographies of Queen Victoria, James de Rothschild, Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart, and Astolphe de Custine, among others; with her husband, Louis Begley, she co-wrote Venice for Lovers (2005). Her new book, The Pen and the Brush, focuses on such writers as Honore de Balzac, Emile Zola, Marcel Proust, Joris-Karl Huysmans, and Guy de Maupassant and the role of painters, such as Cezanne and Delacroix, as characters in their novels. 

Read an excerpt from The Pen and the Brush, which was translated by Adriana Hunter.

On March 23, 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., Muhlstein will give a lecture, answer questions, and sign copies of her book at the Alliance Francaise of Greenwich, Greenwich, Connecticut.

✦ Provoke: Photography in Japan Between Protest and Performance 1960 - 1975 (Steidl, 2016) ~ Accompanying the traveling exhibition "Provoke", at the Art Institute of Chicago through April 30, the 680-page, scholarly catalogue focuses on the short-lived, experimental Japanese magazine Provoke — its creators, its historical context, and its post-war influence on photography. The book is in English and includes 600 images.

Additional Information About Provoke

✦ The Materiality of Mourning (Harvard Art Museums, January 2017) ~ Harvard Art Museums curator Mary Schneider Enriquez examines the past 15 years (2001 to present) of the sculptor and installation artist's work on political violence and oppression, with particular attention given to the development and evolution of her approach, her artistic practice, and her use of organic and nontraditional materials. Also including an essay by conservation scientist Narayan Khandekar and a contribution from Salcedo, the illustrated book accompanies the exhibition "Doris Salcedo: The Materiality of Mourning" at Harvard Art Museums through April 9.

Doris Salcedo at Art21