The Paper Garden: An Artist Begins Her Life's Work at 72

Description

In 1772, upon the death of her second husband, Mary Delany arose from her grief, picked up a pair of scissors, and, at the age of seventy-two, created a new art form: mixed-media collage. Over the next decade, Mrs. Delany produced an astonishing 985 botanically correct, breathtaking cut-paper flowers, now housed in the British Museum and referred to as the Flora Delanica. As she tracks the extraordinary life of Delany-friend of George Frideric Handel and Jonathan Swift-internationally acclaimed poet Molly Peacock weaves in delicate parallels in her own life and, in doing so, creates a profound and beautiful examination of the nature of creativity and art. This gorgeously designed book, featuring thirty-five full-color illustrations, is to be devoured as voraciously as one of the court dinners it describes.

Product Details

Price

$28.00 $26.04

Publisher

Bloomsbury USA

Publish Date

May 01, 2012

Pages

416

Dimensions

5.09 X 1.23 X 8.02 inches | 1.44 pounds

Language

English

Type

Paperback

EAN/UPC

9781608196975

BISAC Categories:

Artists, Architects, Photographers

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About the Author

Molly Peacock is the award-winning author of five volumes of poetry, including The Second Blush, and a memoir, Paradise, Piece by Piece. Her poems have appeared in the New Yorker, the Paris Review, and the Times Literary Supplement. A transplanted New Yorker, she lives in Toronto

Reviews

"The volume itself is a craft object, sumptuously presented and designed, on fine paper, with colophons and decorations, and full-page colour reproductions. . . . The Paper Garden will be everyone's favourite Christmas present this year."
-- Victoria Glendinning, "The Globe and Mail
"
"Like collage itself, The Paper Garden is carefully layered--part fascinating biography . . . part gripping memoir, . . . accompanied by dozens of vivid photo reproductions. Beautifully written and rendered."
-- "Maclean's"
Complementing her research, Peacock's prose is a delight. . . . A fascinating, uplifting and beautiful book."
-- Claire Holden Rothman, "The Gazette "(Montreal)
"Rich and poetic. . . . Teeming with life -- and gorgeous colour illustrations."
-- "Winnipeg Free Press"
"The perfect gift for the hardcore book lover [The Paper Garden is] more than a beautiful glimpse at Delany's very interesting life . . . a considered and shared contempla

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