George Catlin, recognized as the "first artist of the West," dedicated himself to capturing the essence of Native American tribes of the Northern Plains during the 1830s. After initially painting miniatures, he focused on preserving the image of what he saw as a "vanishing race" amid government encroachment on their lands. Over six years, he produced more than six hundred portraits, showcasing the unique identities of chiefs, warriors, and families from over thirty tribes along the upper Missouri River.
The biography explores the multifaceted life of George Sand, the first woman in Europe to achieve bestseller status. It delves into her literary achievements, political engagements, romantic relationships, and domestic life, portraying both her larger-than-life persona and her inner self. The author highlights Sand's significant contributions and the unique role she played in her historical context, offering a fresh perspective on her enduring legacy.
In this masterful portrait of the poet who dazzled an era and prefigured the modern age of celebrity, noted biographer Benita Eisler offers a fuller and more complex vision than we have yet been afforded of George Gordon, Lord Byron.Eisler reexamines his poetic achievement in the context of his extraordinary life: the shameful and traumatic childhood; the swashbuckling adventures in the East; the instant stardom achieved with the publication of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage; his passionate and destructive love affairs, including an incestuous liaison with his half-sister; and finally his tragic death in the cause of Greek independence. This magnificent record of a towering figure is sure to become the new standard biography of Byron.
Chopin's funeral, bisecting the 19th century, stands as a turning point. Both the life and music of this frail elegant man played out at the crossroads. His decline and death following a series of catastrophes, particularly the breach with his lover Georges Sand and the ebb of his creative energy on the brink of a new style, were both final chapters in his often tragic life and reflected larger historical forces. CHOPIN'S FUNERAL is about a death foretold as the sum of other tragedies: the end of a world that fostered his particular genius; the wounds of exile and most fatally, the loss of love. An intimate close-up of the composer's last years, it is also the story of the artist as hero. At the close of his life, with no home or money, his physical powers failing, Chopin grappled with nothing less than a new musical form. CHOPIN'S FUNERAL is also the larger story of a great nineteenth-century city, Paris, in the grip of revolution.
Frederic Chopin ist einundzwanzig, als er 1830 in Paris eintrifft - in Warschau hatte man ihn als Wunderkind und in Wien als blutjungen Virtuosen gefeiert. Mühelos fügt er sich in das gesellschaftliche Leben und die Musikszene der Stadt: Sein neuartiger Klavierstil, der die Virtuosität in den Dienst des poetischen Ausdrucks stellt, verschafft ihm weithin Bewunderung. Er hat einen bedeutenden Freundeskreis, zu dem bald auch George Sand gehört, eine Frau in Männerkleidern, die auf zahlreiche, teils berühmte Liebhaber und eine Reihe von Romanzen zurückblicken kann. Die Gegensätze könnten größer nicht sein - der zarte, melancholische Ästhet, konservativ und apolitisch, und die tatkräftige, in jedem nur denkbaren Sinn emanzipierte und sozialistisch engagierte Mutter zweier Kinder. Die beiden werden ein Paar. Und George Sand erfüllt viele Rollen: Geliebte, Muse, Mutter, Krankenschwester, Freundin und Managerin. Als sie ihm acht Jahre später dieses Familienleben aufkündigt, empfindet er dies als "Vertreibung aus dem Paradies".[ ]Benita Eisler lotet diese beiden künstlerischen Ikonen bis in ihre Tiefen aus, beschränkt sich dabei aber nicht auf das Persönliche. Sie erläutert und interpretiert auch Chopins musikalische Strukturen, sie stellt Klischees in Frage und zeigt neue Perspektiven auf.
