Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/04/17

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Subject: [Leica] HCB exhibit and the New Yorker Review
From: pswango at att.net (Phil Swango)
Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2010 15:50:29 -0600

I had read the New Yorker review earlier and and discussed it with an artist
friend.  I like Schjeldahl and read him regularly but I was a little put off
by the dismissive tone of the criticism here.  I also love Robert Frank but
I don't think his is the only attitude that counts.  HCB was a formal
analyst and organizer, like Poussin and Cezanne before him, and this gave
him that sense of Apollonian detachment that Schjeldahl finds off-putting.
 I like it, myself, so to each his own.  I also wish Schjeldahl had given
more attention to HCB's early years as a surrealist -- probably his best
work, and the work that brought him first recognition when Julien Levy
showed his works alongside artists like Dali and Ernst.

BTW, I liked Vince's characterization of Frank as a "beat poet with a
camera."


Phil Swango
307 Aliso Dr SE
Albuquerque, NM 87108
505-262-4085


Replies: Reply from mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner) ([Leica] HCB exhibit and the New Yorker Review)