A House of Her Own: Kay Sage, Solitary Surrealist

Rating:
Summary: A Remarkable Achievement
Review: About 25 years ago I bought a used edition of a fairly comprehensive history of surrealism. While looking for references to Yves Tanguy, my favorite artist, I saw a small, black and white reproduction of one of Sage's paintings and became equally intriqued by her work. There has never been a biography of Tanguy in English, so I was amazed and delighted when Philip Horowitz told me about this book. Judith Suther's research and writing would do any art historian proud. She has reconstructed Sage's fascinating, tragic life with remarkable detail and immediacy. I have only two minor reservations with this book. Suther adopt's some feminist art hstorians' cant that Sage has been denied due recognition because of her gender. But Tanguy himself is only somewhat better known-note the absence of even one English-language biography. My other reservation is the paucity of color illustrations. I know this book is from a university press and the attendant economics, but for the rather high price, there should be more color illos here. Still, I'm grateful for the miraculous existence of this invaluable book.

Rating:
Summary: Kay Sage 'A House of Her Own' by Judith D. Slater
Review: This isn't the saddest life story I've read, but it is sadness at a most unusual point in the scale of melancholy. Riddled with irony, too. Almost 50 years to the day after Andre Breton commented that Sage's work 'must have been done by a man' Sage was not even listed by name in the surrealist art catalogs and none of her work was to be found in galleries or museums. Only a couple of solo shows and one painting at the 1958 World's Fair. Being the wife of a major surrealist such as Yves Tanguy did not bolster Kay Sage's career in art to say the least. Sage was already well-schooled in art before she met Yves and she came from a wealthy family. The images of her art shown in this book is well worth the money for the picures alone. It will show you 'unofficial personal surrealism' that Women and American Artists from all walks of life have had to face and overcome. Sage's work stands on it's own, yet the enigmatic energy of her ill-fated life and career are revealed in "A House Of Her Own".

The book has several illustrations of paintings, drawings, and early photos including interior/exterior photos of the home Sage and Tanguy shared in Woodbury, Connecticut.

For the Tanguy fans out there, this is a 'must read' book. Anyone that has sought out literature on the life of Yves Tanguy knows there isn't much to be found. A House Of Her Own reveals many details of a well-researched and authored biographer in Judith D. Suther.