Deborah Solomon Knihy

Deborah Solomon’s definitive biography of Joseph Cornell, one of America’s most moving and unusual twentieth-century artists, now reissued twenty years later with updated and extensively revised text Few artists ever led a stranger life than Joseph Cornell, the self-taught American genius prized for his enigmatic shadow boxes, who stands at the intersection of Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop Art. Legends about Cornell abound—the shy hermit, the devoted family caretaker, the artistic innocent—but never before has he been presented for what he was: a brilliant, relentlessly serious artist whose stature has now reached monumental proportions.

Focusing on the life of Jackson Pollock, the book explores his passions, conflicts, relationships, and artistic influences, providing insight into the mind of one of the most significant American painters of the twentieth century. Accompanied by twenty-five reproductions of his paintings, it offers a visual journey through his creative process and the emotional depth behind his work.

Focusing on the artistic rivalry between Elizabethan poetry and gardens, this book highlights the advantages of a trans-media approach to understanding the literary culture of the era. It explores how these two forms of expression influenced each other and contributed to the richness of the period's artistic landscape. Through this lens, the author reveals deeper insights into the interplay between literature and visual aesthetics in Elizabethan society.