| Description |
183 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color map ; 25 cm |
| Contents |
Machine derived contents note: Table of Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Preface -- Chapter 1. A Child's Walled City -- Chapter 2. Poet and Patron -- Chapter 3. Among the Surrealists -- Chapter 4. The Magic of Mexico -- Chapter 5. Snow Falls on Orchids -- Chapter 6. Builder of Dreams -- Chapter 7. The House with Wings -- Chapter 8. El Ingl¿s in Xilitla -- Chapter 9. Light in the Forest -- Chapter 10. Triumph of Time -- Bibliography -- Index of Names |
| Summary |
"Deep in the jungle-covered mountains of Mexico, amid bucolic waterfalls, birds, butterflies, and wild orchids, lies one of the best-kept secrets in the world of art and architecture: Las Pozas, a spectacularly surreal assemblage of enormous concrete sculptures and structures springing from the lush vegetation. It is the extraordinary achievement of one of the least-known, most compelling figures of our time, the eccentric English aristocrat Edward James - poet, patron, and architect of dreams." "Born into the lap of luxury - his father was a scion of the American Dodge dynasty, and his mother was rumored to be the daughter of King Edward VII - James inherited a vast fortune at a young age and lavished it on an ostentatious lifestyle and ambitious artistic ventures. He amassed one of the finest collections of Surrealist art as the patron of such renowned artists as Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, and Leonora Carrington. He financed and collaborated on Dali's Dream of Venus pavilion at the 1939 World's Fair, inspired Dali's iconic Lobster Telephone, and is the subject of Magritte's famous painting, La reproduction interdite." "But Edward James was more than mere patron. He was a poet and artist in his own right, publishing many books and traveling in circles that included a number of luminaries and celebrities, among them Isamu Noguchi, Aldous Huxley, Igor Stravinsky, and Christopher Isherwood. Along the way he fell in love with the exotic Viennese dancer Tilly Losch, for whom he financed a landmark series of Balanchine ballets, including the legendary Weill-Brecht collaboration, The Seven Deadly Sins. Edward and Tilly soon wed, though the marriage was short-lived and disastrous, and the scandalous divorce sent a shockwave throughout English high society." "Abandoning England in the late 1930s, James moved to an artists' colony in Taos, New Mexico, then to Los Angeles, and finally to Mexico, where he and his Yaqui companion, Plutarco Gastelum, discovered the remote town of Xilitla. Over the next four decades he set about creating his crowning achievement. Working with local artisans of Otomi and Mayan origin, he built soaring edifices of colored concrete, enormous sculptures of hands, serpents, and exotic flowers, and grand parapets in the sky." "Award-winning author Margaret Hooks tells the fascinating story of Edward James, from his childhood at the grand estate of West Dean in England to his wild exploits in New York City and finally to his masterwork, Las Pozas - illustrated with previously unpublished photographs by Sally Mann, Michael Schuyt, Lourdes Almeida, Marilyn Westlake, Luis Felix, and Avery Danziger, as well as recently unearthed drawings by James himself."--BOOK JACKET |
| Notes |
Formerly CIP. Uk |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 174-176) and index |
| Subject |
James, Edward, 1907-1984 -- Homes and haunts -- Mexico -- Xilitla (San Luis Potosí)
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Art patrons -- Great Britain -- Biography.
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Eclecticism in architecture -- Mexico -- Xilitla (San Luis Potosí)
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| SUBJECT |
Las Pozas (Xilitla, San Luis Potosí, Mexico) http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n2006040624
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| Genre/Form |
Biographies.
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| Author |
Mann, Sally, 1951-
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| LC no. |
2006015433 |
| ISBN |
1568986122 (alk. paper) |
|
9781568986128 |
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9781568986128 (alk. paper) |
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