Author:Man Ray
In this remarkable autobiography, Man Ray - painter, photographer, sculptor, film maker and writer - relates the story of his life, from his childhood determination to be an artist and his technical drawing classes in a Brooklyn high school, to the glamorous and heady days of Paris in the 1940s, when any trip to the city 'was not complete until they had been "done" by Man Ray's camera'.
Friend to everyone who was anyone, Ray tells everything he knows of artists, socialites and writers such as Matisse, Hemingway, Picasso and Joyce, not to mention Lee Miller, Nancy Cunard, Alberto Giacometti, Gertrude Stein, Dali, Max Ernst and many more, in this decadent, sensational account of the early twentieth-century cultural world.
MAN RAY, masculine noun, synonymous with joy, to play, to enjoy
—— Marcel DuchampSensitive...detailed...balanced
—— New York TimesAn excellent biography
—— Times Literary SupplementA spirited biography
—— TimeA masterly biography... A powerful and moving book about a life riddled with despair and yet redeemed by art
—— NewsdayA brilliantly idiosyncratic investigation which alternates chapters internal to the picture (the fashions, the furniture, the oranges, the mirror) with chapters on its production and historical meanderings
—— Lynn Roberts , TabletMeticulously weaving an analysis of the portrait with chapters devoted to political and social history
—— Fisun Guner , MetroHicks writes effortlessly, with a vast amount of information at her fingertips
—— Jerry Brotton , BBC History MagazineEngaging
—— Gillian Tindal , Literary ReviewThis beautifully written book is a splendid testament to the intelligence, attention to detail, depth of research, and down to earth vision of a first rate scholar
—— Theodore K Rabb , Times Literary SupplementThere are still interesting things to be said about Van Eyck's great double portrait
—— Michael Glover , Independent, Books of the YearExploring the double-portrait image in often revelatory detail, Hicks presents a truly inspiring picture of her own
—— Erica Wagner , The Times, Books of the YearNo-one can write, and explain, like Hicks. Here her mastery is complete
—— SpectatorThis impressive work of art historical scholarship is in every way as engaging as its subject
—— Peter Murray , Irish ExaminerA rattlingly readable effort... Greig does a fine job revealing tales one suspects the artist may have wished to keep private.
—— Alastair Smart , TelegraphAnybody with an ear for a good story, never mind an eye for fine art, will be beguiled.
—— Hephzibah Anderson , Mail on SundayGreig's fascinating, intimate biography of Lucian Freud was a revelation. Every question I had about Freud – from the aesthetic to the intrusively gossipy – was answered with great candour and judiciousness… Wry, dry and completely beguiling.
—— William Boyd , Guardian[Greig’s] perceptive observations and eagle’s eye for detail immediately drew me in.
—— Rebecca Wallersteiner , VantageThe Freud who emerges in this account is a slippery figure, not only for journalists who tried to explain him but also for his intimates.
—— New YorkerMr Greig's is a compelling portrait of a complete amoralist who became a monstre sacré.
—— The EconomistGreig’s portrait glimmers with his eye for the telling detail.
—— Robert Collins , Sunday TimesA mesmerising book, seamlessly crafted, totally absorbing, and impossible to put down.
—— The TabletA very readable and enjoyable book, full of salacious detail of the artist and his fascinating life.
—— Julia Weiner , Jewish ChronicleThis intimate biography of Lucian Freud spares no blushes in its account of one of Britain's greatest painters, tracing his life and work through candid revelations about his views on art, relationships and family.
—— Charlotte Mullins , Art QuarterlyBuilding up brush stroke by brush stroke, Greig has produced a three-dimensional study of equal candour. Part demon, part genius, it is an absorbing portrait of the complexity of a strange human character.
—— Peter Lewis , Daily MailAn unapologetic mixture of intelligent perception and high gossip... It is, overall, more revealing than anything about [Freud] yet written.
—— Frances Spalding , GuardianI am captivated by this fascinating memoir... It's an extraordinary read.
—— Barbara Taylor Bradford , Daily MailCandid and intelligent.
—— Spear'sA gripping, page-turning vision of Lucian Freud that penetrates deep into the artist's private life.
—— Sunday Times OnlineUtterly engrossing and lavishly illustrated
—— Mail on Sunday