Anselm Kiefer: The Heavenly Palaces, Merkabah

Book Description

While most major museums in the United States and abroad hold examples of the German artist Anselm Kiefer's work, the nature and extent of his achievement are the subject of intense debate. This volume reproduces in full The Heavenly Palaces: Merkabah, an important large-scale artist's book created by Kiefer in 1990. Featuring highly evocative images beautifully reproduced here in full color, this work is accompanied by three penetrating essays by experts who approach the book from various perspectives, explicating its many layers of meaning to an unprecedented degree. The first essay deals impressionistically with the motifs and iconography of The Heavenly Palaces: Merkabah. The next treats its themes and meaning, concentrating especially on Jewish references and resonances, an especially challenging aspect of this German artist's oeuvre. In the final essay, the importance of the medium of photography is addressed by surveying its use by Kiefer since the beginning of his career.

anselm kiefer the heavenly palaces: merkabah.

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anselm kiefer the heavenly palaces: merkabah.
editor. peter nisbet
Manufacturer: Harvard University Art Museums
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

The traditional image of the Victorian woman presents her as strait-laced and prudish, her clothing an outward sign of her sexual repression and exploitation. This situation supposedly persisted until the Women's Rights Movement and World War I forced the world to acknowledge that women were
liberated individuals with legs. Yet Valerie steele demonstrates that eroticism formed the basis for the Victorian ideal of feminine beauty and fashion--indeed, that the concepts of beauty and fashion are essentially erotic. She shows that, far from being passive "sex objects," Victorian women,
like their modern counterparts, themselves chose to emulate an erotic ideal as an aspect of their own self-fulfillment. Even the notorious corset was neither fetishistic nor an unhealthy instrument of torture, she argues, although its comlex and ambivalent sexual symbolism aroused controversy.
Fashion and Eroticism shows how the New Look of "sexy" modern naturally from within the pre-war world of fashion and not as part of an intifashion movement.
Steele's conclusions are based on prodigious documentary evidence, including visual and material research, in costume collections in the United States, Great Britain, Europe, and even Japan. Fashiona and Eroticism is not only a radical revision of the Conventional understanding of Victorian
fashion; it is a major contribution to the histyory of women and sexuality.
About the Author:
Valerie steele received her Ph.D. from Yale University in 1983, and was the 1984 First Ladies' Fellow at the Division of Costume, National Museum of American History, the Smithsonian Institution.

Customer Reviews:

Quoted from inside cover:.......2002-01-15

In this fascinating new study, Valerie Steele shows how eroticism formed the basis of the Victorian ideal of feminine beauty and fashion, indeed, how the very concepts of beauty and fashion are in essence erotic. Far from being passive sex objects, Victorian women, like their modern counterparts, chose to emulate an erotic ideal as an aspect of their own self fulfillment and were not merely presenting themselves as men wanted to see them.

Fashion And Eroticism is not only a radical revision of our conventional understanding of Victorian fashion; it is also a major contribution to the history of women and sexuality. Steele offers a powerful and convincing new interpretation of the Victorian woman, who has traditionally been presented as strait-laced and prudish, her clothing an outward sign of her sexual repression and exploitation. Steele shows that the Victorians were, in fact, well aware that women had legs. Even the notorious corset was neither fetishistic nor an unhealthy instrument of torture, although its complex and ambivalent sexual symbolism aroused controversy.

Steele explodes the myth that progress triumphed over fashion. She explains how the twentieth century look of sexy, healthy beauty evolved from within the prewar world of fashion, and not as part of an anti fashion or dress reform movement. Her conclusions are based on prodigious documentary, visual, and material research (including the study of costume collections in the United States, great Britain, Europe, and even Japan), set within a sophisticated interpretive framework. Her use of psychoanalytic theory to explain the connection between fashion and eroticism is both lucid and persuasive, and her discussion of eroticism is sensible and precise, a far cry from the usual prurient and anecdotal histories of sexuality. Fashion And Eroticism approaches its subject from the perspective of the most recent work in womenýs history and concluded that fashion and feminism are by no means irreconcilable.

Customer Reviews:

I am outsider looking in, but I accept difference.......2001-02-27

If you are going to judge the actions of the people in this book with your own personal biases, I recommend you put the book down. Coming from the USA, immediate the thought of Genital Mutilation puts me in disgust, but I put it into perspective with the beautiful culture of the Mende. As in Western/developed societies where people do what is the norm, it is the same the world over, even though norms are different. From what I've learned, the general opinion used to be that African cultures had no aesthetics, because they do not completely mimic popular US trends, etc. The author made this book in an attempt to prove to the Western influenced societies that African cultures do have standards of beauty and acceptance.

Romanticizing Clitorectomy ?.......2000-06-19

I understand that this book was written in the late seventies, but still, trying to rationalize one of the central rituals of the Mende culture, the forced, surgical removal of the clitoris of teen and pre-teen girls as a pre-requisite of their entering the adult community, is horrifying. Did the author perhaps get too much sun as she was doing her field work for her Ph.d from Yale in this community? How can she not condemn this aspect of female life in Sierra Leone's tribal communities, and seem to condone,or ignore, this most extraordinarily monstrous practice around which the whole society is organized. Perhaps the book is an interesting study of standards of feminine beauty in in a west african community, but to me, as a woman, I just couldn't get past the fact that this miserable ritual is at the heart of their society. The book is well written and full of interesting and exotic information, and is worth reading if only to raise your blood pressure, be you male or female, as to the sorry state of women in the world even in this, the year 2000.

American Film and the Feminine Ideal: 1895-1930

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American Film and the Feminine Ideal: 1895-1930
Larry C. Wilson
Manufacturer: Dame Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0873935438

The Buddhist Feminine Ideal: Queen Srimala and the Tathagatagarbha

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The Buddhist Feminine Ideal: Queen Srimala and the Tathagatagarbha
Diana Mary Paul
Manufacturer: Scholars Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0891303030

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Feminine Character History of an Ideal
Viola Klein
Manufacturer: INTERNATIONAL UNIV PRESS INC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000Q031EG

Feminine Ideal (Reaktion Books - Picturing History)

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The horror! The horror!

Feminine Ideal (Reaktion Books - Picturing History)
Marianne Thesander
Manufacturer: Reaktion Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Textile & Costume | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1861890044

Book Description

Why, at a time when women's liberation was gaining force and momentum, did the corset become more cinched and restricting than at any time during the entire preceding century? Why was bra burning a political statement for the feminists of the 1970s? How far is the harnessed and restricted female form an outward symbol of Victorian and middle-class ideas of discipline and self-control? In what ways are women forced to conform to a "feminine ideal"?

In The Feminine Ideal, Marianne Thesander examines the significance of the female body, beauty and culture. She shows how the female body is constantly being changed, and by various – sometimes punishing – means made to fit in with current feminine physical ideals. The use of corsets, bras, make-up, cosmetics and body decoration either emphasizes or plays down specific aspects of the female form.

Marianne Thesander considers: sin and virtue; the forbidden, the concealed, the alluring body; woman as object, fetish and erotic sign. With extensive use of illustrative material, she examines the fashion history of underwear from the eighteenth century to the present day, exploring the significance of changing 'models' of the feminine.

Customer Reviews:

The horror! The horror!.......2005-06-09

_Feminine Ideal_ is quite an impressive book. Like all Reaktion Books in this series, the volume is very well illustrated and the author is an expert on the topic.

Thesander's writing is very matter-of-fact and in many ways it lacks a certain element of storytelling. Neverthless, the information she presents is fascinating in and of itself and she knows her subject well.

The book concentrates largely on the female body through fashion rather than the shape of the body itself or what shape of body is deemed popular in a particular time period. However these subjects are also broached.

The reality that fashion marches to its own drum is well documented by the often unhealthy and over-the-top types of fashion created for the woman. The role of men in dictating these ideals is clearly established though with the women's movement this begins to change. The somewhat depressing note that those of us who do not fit into the ideal shape of women at any given time is explored but fortunately the results aren't so devestating for those of us living in modern times. The many arguments surrounding the feminine ideal are presented and especially in the 20th century, the diversity of female forms, are laid out, argued over, but all in all, shown to be representative of our freedom of choice rather than oppressive to some, liberating for others.

The corset is one of several key fashions explored in this book as is the tendency of women to begin dressing like men during the women's rights movement. I was surprised to learn that a woman was actually behind one of the first brassiere creations, having been told they were a product of men.

I expect this book is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the evolution of fashion, the role of women within society, and the ideas on attractiveness as largely dictated by men. I thoroughly enjoyed the read and learned an incredible amount on a subject I knew very little about.

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Feminine Soul, the Fate of an Ideal
Marilyn Chapin Massey
Manufacturer: Beacon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Feminine soul: the fate of an ideal
Marilyn Chapin Massey
Manufacturer: Boston: Beacon Press, 1985
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000H7XWZG

Ideals of Feminine Beauty: Philosophical, Social, and Cultural Dimensions (Contributions in Women's Studies)

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Ideals of Feminine Beauty: Philosophical, Social, and Cultural Dimensions (Contributions in Women's Studies)

Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Aesthetics | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Feminist Theory | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0313261369

Book Description

Few books in this field focus solely on beauty ideals, and this volume is unique in terms of its scholarly, interdisciplinary approach. The eleven chapters offer readers a comprehensive analysis of beauty and patriarchy. They reflect a variety of approaches to the study of feminine beauty, including philosophical, historical, sociological, cross-cultural, and empirical. Feminine beauty is discussed as a means of patriarchal, social control, which shapes the socio-cultural, political context as well as the everyday lives of women.

Imaging American Women: Idea and Ideals in Cultural History

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Imaging American Women: Idea and Ideals in Cultural History
Martha Banta
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

History of Ideas | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Women in Art | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0231061269

Book Description

Genuine weirdness is a rare quality. To be truly weird demands character and wanton disregard for the social mores of the day.

Unleashed in Tales of the Weirrd is Ralph Steadman's fantastic interpretations and biographies of nineteenth century grotesques, oddities, imposters and eccentrics. The book is a hilarious catalog of nature's freakish humor and, in the best Victorian tradition, it instructs as well as entertains. This crazy collection of dwarfs, and gluttons, wits and water-spouters includes:

Charles Charlesworth, who grew a beard at age four and died of old age at the age of seven
Old Boots, who could hold a piece of money between his nose and chin
Barbara Urselin, the hairy-faced woman
Henry Lemoine, an eccentric bookseller
Guillaume de Nittis, who tried to eat himself
Fakir Agastiya, who kept his arm in the air for ten years
Neville Vadio, the blind caricaturist, who was claimed by many to be a better draughtsman than Rembrandt.

Tales of the Weirrd is an extraordinary celebration of the bizarre brought to life by the astonishing energy, imagination and power of Ralph Steadman's pen.

Customer Reviews:

Poor layout greatly harms this book........2007-06-14

The stories in this book are fun documentations of abnormal individuals.

The illustrations are as dynamic and charming as you'd expect from Mr. Steadman.

It can be very hard to enjoy them, however, as the publisher has taken all of the best illustrations and buried them in the spine of the book crossing the page breaks. What the hell were they thinking?! You can tell there's a great drawing there, but you can't even see most of it without mangling the book. This is true on page after page.

Somebody who really doesn't care put this thing together slap-dashedly. It's a shame. It makes the whole thing not worthwhile.

Bizarre Art + Bizarre Tales = Excellent Book.......2006-03-17

This book is not just a worthy purchase because of the Steadman artwork. The short stories and accounts of the faboulously odd fellows and delightfully abnormal ladies would make this book a definite keeper even if there were no pictures. But add the refreshingly unique artwork to the equally interesting tales and you have a book that you'll pull off the shelf more than once. I also like that this book is somewhat oversized, which means the reader can appreciate the artwork on a more grand scale. Also, if you don't have the time or the energy to read a book from front to back in one sitting, this is an ideal book for you because it is full of short stories that you could walk away from for months and come right back to without having to remember a thing.

Must Have!.......2003-01-25

Along with Steadman's unique and inspiring art, this book explores the land of the weirrd....humans who once entertained the boring people with their bizarre and unusual oddities. With each tale of a sideshow star, Steadman draws us a picture and weaves an eloquent and highly entertaining story about his subject. Steadman is literate as all hell. When you're done with this be sure to check out his latest...DOODAA - a triography. No doubt this man has a bundle of fun with himself - his mind is a treasure chest of wacky good times and he seems to have a great grasp on our human reality - every inch of dystopic madness. With books like this, Steadman does his part, in keeping the rest of us sane and amused.

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Tales of the Weirrd
Ralph Steadman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J45U3Y

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Great Historical Prespective about Great Funny People!

It's no joke to be so funny

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

Please buy it!

Smiling through the Sadness

The Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America
Lawrence J. Epstein
Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Comedy | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Ethnic Studies | Special Groups | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Entertaining America: Jews, Movies, and Broadcasting

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ASIN: 1586481622
Release Date: 2002-12-17

Book Description

From vaudeville to the movies to television, the complete--and often hilarious--history of how Jewish comedians transformed American entertainment.

Lawrence Epstein's The Haunted Smile tackles a subject both poignant and delightful: the story of Jewish comedians in America. For the past century and more, American comedy has drawn its strength and soul from the comic genius of Jewish performers and writers. An incomplete listing of names makes the point: The Marx Brothers, Jack Benny, Fanny Brice, George Burns, Milton Berle, Jackie Mason, Joan Rivers, Rodney Dangerfield, Mel Brooks, Alan King, Mort Sahl, Buddy Hackett, Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, Andy Kaufman, Richard Belzer, Jerry Seinfeld. These men and women, among others, form the canon of Jewish-American comedy.

In the words of the Detroit Jewish News, The Haunted Smile "offers us a deep and subtle understanding of how Jewish culture and American openness gave birth to a new style of entertainment." Often the best way to illuminate a point is to recount some of these comedians' own brilliant routines, and Epstein uses the comedian's work to great effect, making for a book that is both a thoughtful work of history and a great deal of fun.

Customer Reviews:

Great Historical Prespective about Great Funny People!.......2007-01-05

I just finished reading "The Haunted Smile" and I loved it! I thought it was a perfect combination of history, story telling and wonderfully applicable joke excerpts. Not only did I laugh but I learned a great deal about the history of Jewish comedians in America and about the Jews who immigrated here as well. As a 30-year-old Jew living in America, I've never experienced the same issues which my great grandmother experienced upon immigrating to the United States. I remember her speaking Yiddish but I never could fully appreciate her sacrifices. This made me understand her background a little better and made me proud to be part of a people who took adversity and turned it into laughs. What a beautiful weapon!

It's no joke to be so funny .......2006-01-16

On the back of I believe the first paperback edition of Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye' it is written, "It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. And you will never forget it." So I feel about that remarkable list of American Jewish comedians who gave so much pleasure so much joy to millions of people. From the time of vaudeville, the Marx brothers, Gallagher and Shean, Ed Wynn up to the golden age of Television, its real beginning with Uncle Milty and Sid Caesar's 'Show of Shows' with that amazing gang of writers Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Woody Allen, Neil Simon. And then down to more recent times with Gary Shandling and Seinfeld, Andy Kaufman and the late Gila Radner. -these wonderful people made America happy.
In this richly informative work Lawrence J. Epstein tells the stories of many of the true greats, Jack Benny, George Burns, the Marx brothers. He too provides some explanation of why the Jews became America's principal comic entertainers.
In an interview about the book Epstein says "The Jewish immigrant's child came from a family that had to confront hatred, persecution and attack. This made the Jews anxious and fearful," Epstein explains. "They needed a way to cope. This way had to be portable because the Jews kept being kicked out of places and had to be rooted in language because Jews so prized words over physical activity. Humor could be taken from place to place and was based on language. The humor also was useful in dealing with anti-Semites. If Jews could deflect hatred with laughter, people wouldn't hurt them."
This to my mind makes some sense but is certainly not the whole story. True a good share of Jewish humor is self- reflexive and self- critical, but there is also the explosively abusive humor of a Lenny Bruce or a Don Rickles, humor in which the language becomes a weapon to injure and win laughs.
Yet to tell the truth the great gift of this book is in the particular stories and anecdotes it gives, and less in the 'theory'.
The truth is each of these comics is a great 'character'. And I believe the real strength of these comics as a whole , is that each one of them is so much of an individual, so much of a 'character'. And each has a particular humor and style all his own.
This is a wonderful book, and I recommend it highly. I cannot really capture its spirit in this review, and certainly cannot capture the spirit of each of the great comedians it is about.
But I am thinking of one most famous radio humor story. It is the one in which for the first time in the history of commercial radio there is a period of silence of several minutes. It is when the robber comes to the skinflint of all skinflints , Jack Benny and says, 'Your money, or your life". There is silence and then more silence. And then after several minutes, comes the plaintive voice of Jack Benny, " I 'm thinking, I'm thinking."
We love you guys . You were the greatest.

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!.......2004-08-25

Learn who's Jewish and who's not, who pretended not to be Jewish and who led with Jewishness. Learn who had it really, really tough and who had it relatively easy. Discover who could work together and who couldn't. Get the skinny on some really poor, skinny comedians. Rodney Dangerfield's true story seemed stranger than fiction. Find out who whacked Sinatra with a pie and got away with it. Find out how Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis really got together. Be privy to literally dozens of stories about famous people and get the history of radio, movies and television as a bonus.

I ended up liking some people I didn't know well enough to like. Some overt dishonesty shocked me. All the stories were at least interesting, many exciting and a few really disgusting.

What more could you possibly ask of one book?

Please buy it!.......2003-06-28

This book is full of history, anecdotes, personal stories, samples from comedians' stand-up material and movie dialog, and immigrant sociology and circumstances. He even gives details tying Yiddish language to Jewish American humor. He tells of vaudeville artists adapting to radio, then tv. So many details provided! At first I was not going to buy it (I am a frugal African American who buys paperbacks), but I am glad I did. Also, at first, I thought it was going to be too scholarly and dry, but once I got INTO IT -- I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!! BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT! And share it with your friends.

Smiling through the Sadness.......2003-06-14

This book is a wonderful look at the many Jewish comedians- from the Marx Brothers to Jerry Seinfeld- who have made America (and the world) laugh over the years. This book is more than just a superficial look at Jewish humor, however. It's an insightful and thoughtful probe into the sources of Jewish humor and a tribute to the strength and courage of a people who managed to find humor in even the most desperate of circumstances.American humor just would not be the same without Jewish comedic genius. This book clearly points that out. I thought this was expertly written and very entertaining. Highly recommended.

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