Traces the life of the influential French publisher and describes the development of the French publishing industry

Gaston Gallimard: A Half-Century of French Publishing (English and French Edition)

Reference

Assouline, Pierre

Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

Harcourt, Brace. Jovanovich

Herge: The Man Who Created Tintin

One of the most beloved characters in all of comics, Tintin won an enormous international following. Translated into dozens of languages, Tintin's adventures have sold millions of copies, and Steven Spielberg is presently adapting the stories for the big screen. Yet, despite Tintin's enduring popularity, Americans know almost nothing about his gifted creator, Georges Remi--better known as Hergé. Offering a captivating portrait of a man who revolutionized the art of comics, this is the first full biography of Hergé available for an English-speaking audience. Born in Brussels in 1907, Hergé began his career as a cub reporter, a profession he gave to his teenaged, world-traveling hero. But whereas Tintin was "fully formed, clear-headed, and positive," Assouline notes, his inventor was "complex, contradictory, inscrutable." For all his huge success--achieved with almost no formal training--Hergé would say unassumingly of his art, "I was just happy drawing little guys, that's all." Granted unprecedented access to thousands of the cartoonist's unpublished letters, Assouline gets behind the genial public mask to take full measure of Hergé's life and art and the fascinating ways in which the two intertwine. Neither sugarcoating nor sensationalizing his subject, he meticulously probes such controversial issues as Hergé's support for Belgian imperialism in the Congo and his alleged collaboration with the Nazis. He also analyzes the underpinnings of Tintin--how the conception of the character as an asexual adventurer reflected Hergé's appreciation for the Boy Scouts organization as well as his Catholic mentor's anti-Soviet ideology--and relates the comic strip to Hergé's own place within the Belgian middle class. A profound influence on a generation of artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, the elusive figure of Hergé comes to life in this illuminating biography--a deeply nuanced account that unveils the man and his career as never before.

Hergé: The Man Who Created Tintin

Ruas, Charles

Humor & Entertainment

Oxford University Press

One of the most beloved characters in all of comics, Tintin won an enormous international following. Translated into dozens of languages, Tintin's adventures have sold millions of copies. Yet, despite Tintin's enduring popularity, Americans know almost nothing about his gifted creator, Georges Remi--better known as Hergé. Timed to coincide with Steven Spielberg's long-awaited film The Adventures of Tin Tin: Secret of the Unicorn, here is the first full biography of Hergé available for an English-speaking audience, offering a captivating portrait of a man who revolutionized the art of comics. Granted unprecedented access to thousands of the cartoonist's unpublished letters, Assouline gets behind the genial public mask to take full measure of Hergé's life and art and the fascinating ways in which the two intertwine. Neither sugarcoating nor sensationalizing his subject, he weighs such controversial issues as Hergé's support for Belgian imperialism in the Congo and his alleged collaboration with the Nazis. He also analyzes the underpinnings of Tintin--how the conception of the character as an asexual adventurer reflected Hergé's love for the Boy Scouts as well as his Catholic mentor's anti-Soviet ideology--and relates the comic strip to Hergé's own place within the Belgian middle class. For all his huge success--achieved with almost no formal training--Hergé would say unassumingly of his art, "I was just happy drawing little guys, that's all." A profound influence on a generation of artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, the elusive figure of Hergé comes to life in this illuminating biography--a deeply nuanced account that unveils the man and his career as never before. "Highlights yet again that all-too-common divide between the flawed private man and the admirable creative genius.... Those fascinated by the strange lives of creative geniuses may want to read Assouline's fine, if somewhat disillusioning, biography." --Michael Dirda, Washington Post "Will inform and edify America's Tintin devotees." --San Francisco Chronicle

Teen & Young Adult

“Will inspire fans and followers to rediscover its elusive subject’s remarkable oeuvre.” ―Publishers Weekly The twentieth century was that of the image, and the legendary photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, born in 1908, was the eye of the century. Cartier-Bresson was always on the spot, recording historic events as they happened. His work focused on Mexico in the 1930s, the tragic fate of the Spanish Republicans, the liberation of Paris, the weariness of Gandhi a few hours before his assassination, and the victory of the Chinese Communists. It was he who fixed forever in our minds the features of famous contemporaries: Giacometti, Sartre, Faulkner, Camus, and others, their portraits captured for eternity at the decisive moment. An intensely private individual, Cartier-Bresson nonetheless took Pierre Assouline into his confidence over a number of years, discussing his youthful devotion to surrealism, his lifelong passion for drawing, his experience of war and the prison camps, his friends, and the women in his life. He even opened up his invaluable archives. 25 illustrations

Henri Cartier-Bresson: A Biography

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Thames&Hudson

The first full biography ever published on this complex, curious, brilliant man. The twentieth century was the century of the image and Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) was the eye of the century. Through the decades, this eye focused on Africa in the 1920s, the tragic fate of the Spanish Republicans, and the victory of the Chinese Communists. It was Cartier-Bresson who fixed in our minds the features of his contemporaries: Giacometti and Sartre as characters from their own works; Mauriac mysteriously levitating; Faulkner, Matisse, Camus, and countless others captured at the decisive moment in portraits for eternity. An intensely private individual, Cartier-Bresson confided in his close friend Pierre Assouline over a number of years, even opening up his archives to him. Here, for the first time, we read about his youthful devotion to surrealism; his unending passion for drawing; the war and the prison camps; the friends and the women in his life. Assouline provides an acute and perceptive account of the life and philosophy of this icon of our times, and gives us an opportunity to reassess his contribution to twentieth-century photography and reportage. 23 illustrations.

Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Biography

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Simenon: A Biography

Random House Value Publishing

London: Chatto & Windus

An Artful Life: A Biography of D.H. Kahnweiler, 1884-1979

Grove Pr

Paul Durand-Ruel (1831-1922) is widely credited as the dealer who "made" the professional careers of Renoir, Degas, Manet, Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, Puvis de Chavannes, and other painters of fin-de-siècle Paris. Driven by the conviction that the work of the Impressionists was an artistic revelation, he led the fight against critical opinion and brought these artists to the public. His event-filled life is the subject of this absorbing biography. Durand-Ruel risked his name, his fortune, and his family's future to become the outspoken champion of Impressionism, an art form that in France provoked only insults. By 1900 his gallery dominated the international market for Impressionism, and he had inspired a new generation of collectors, from merchant princes of Moscow to steel barons of Pittsburgh. This volume, deftly crafted from unpublished documents and letters, and illustrated with 40 black-and-white images, is an important addition to our understanding of Impressionism and collecting, as well as a dazzling tour of French and American art and cultural politics in the years before World War I. AUTHOR BIO: Pierre Assouline is one of France's leading historians and biographers. His many books include An Artful Life: A Biography of D. H. Kahnweiler.

Discovering Impressionism: The Life of Paul Durand-Ruel

Vendome Press

Fromm Intl

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