Böcker av Eli Levin

Some art lessons can inspire. Others are useless or even harmful. Eli Levin has written an amusing recollection of his art-student years and subsequent development. We witness his struggles to overcome the clichés and bombast so prevalent in the art world from 1950 to 1990. From every lesson the author hopes to find something useful, even occasionally a moment of insight. In the form of an artist's memoir, this book concentrates on the difficult question "what can artists learn?" It is a close study of the crises and breakthroughs that make up the lifetime effort of one particular artist to develop his personal vision. ELI LEVIN is one of New Mexico's best-known living, working artists. Starting his career in Santa Fe in 1964, he became recognized for his paintings of local night life. While returning often to his Social Realist roots, his work has also explored mythology, still life, landscape and the nude. The son of novelist Meyer Levin, he has written art reviews and taught art history. He hosts two artist's gatherings, a model drawing group since 1969 and The Santa Fe Etching Club since 1980. Levin studied painting with Raphael Soyer, George Grosz and Robert Beverley Hale among others, and has Master's degrees from Wisconsin University and St. John's College. He is also the author of "Santa Fe Bohemia, The Art Colony, 1964-1980," and "Why I Hate Modern Art," both from Sunstone Press.

By the early 1970s, an active bohemian colony had developed in Santa Fe and it became a cultural boom town. The number of art galleries went from two to a hundred. Besides the Santa Fe Opera, there came into being endless festivals: for art, music, literature, theater, movies, fashion, and the crafts of Indians and Spanish Americans. The city''s complex heritage of three interlocked cultures became "Santa Fe Style." But the fifteen years between 1964 and 1980 held a special magic. And Eli Levin experienced it all: the fading generation of older artists and the newly arriving younger generation; wild night life at Claude''s Bar; artist''s battles with conservative arts organizations; questionable successes and tragic failure of careers; exemplary examples of lifetime dedication; and a number of suppressed scandals, one even involving possible murders. Packed with amusing anecdotes about the various artists with whom Levin painted, plotted and partied, this vivid memoir testifies to the exciting rebirth and burgeoning growth of one of this country''s most well known art colonies. Eli Levin, the son of novelist Meyer Levin, is known for his paintings of Santa Fe night life. He has run art galleries, written art reviews and taught art history. He hosts two artist''s gatherings, a drawing group since 1969 and the Santa Fe Etching Club since 1980. Levin studied painting with Raphael Soyer, George Grosz and Robert Beverly Hale, among others, and has Master''s degrees from Wisconsin University and St. John''s College.

By the early 1970s, an active bohemian colony had developed in Santa Fe and it became a cultural boom town. The number of art galleries went from two to a hundred. Besides the Santa Fe Opera, there came into being endless festivals: for art, music, literature, theater, movies, fashion, and the crafts of Indians and Spanish Americans. The city''s complex heritage of three interlocked cultures became "Santa Fe Style." But the fifteen years between 1964 and 1980 held a special magic. And Eli Levin experienced it all: the fading generation of older artists and the newly arriving younger generation; wild night life at Claude''s Bar; artist''s battles with conservative arts organizations; questionable successes and tragic failure of careers; exemplary examples of lifetime dedication; and a number of suppressed scandals, one even involving possible murders. Packed with amusing anecdotes about the various artists with whom Levin painted, plotted and partied, this vivid memoir testifies to the exciting rebirth and burgeoning growth of one of this country''s most well known art colonies. Eli Levin, the son of novelist Meyer Levin, is known for his paintings of Santa Fe night life. He has run art galleries, written art reviews and taught art history. He hosts two artist''s gatherings, a drawing group since 1969 and the Santa Fe Etching Club since 1980. Levin studied painting with Raphael Soyer, George Grosz and Robert Beverly Hale, among others, and has Master''s degrees from Wisconsin University and St. John''s College.