In 2009 I began working with Welcome Books as
an oral historian on the project The
Last Good War: Faces and Voices of World War II. This, of course, is
very dissimilar from the newly released Artists
in Love.
The connection between the two projects is my love for stories. In a way, it is fitting that I made my way from stories about war to stories about love (only to learn that there is a great deal of love to be found in war and vice-versa).
The idea for Artists in Love had been brewing in my editor, Katrina Fried’s, mind for some time. I believe she was most drawn to the idea of juxtaposing works of art made by brilliant artists and noticing the way they influenced one another in that juxtaposition.
Until the summer of 2011 (after I completed a visiting curator post at the Cheekwood Museum in my hometown), Fried waited for me to send samples of the stories I would write. I wanted them to read like short stories--the way they take you through rooms, in and out of character’s minds, into your own vulnerabilities. I wanted someone who had never heard of a particular artist (or artists) to learn something new about their process and lives. Lee Miller and Man Ray, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, and Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O’Keeffe served as the first three stories.
From there I was given the green light to write
stories for the rest of the couples (and more) that have been included in the
book, along with beautiful photographs and works of art.
Comments