The Sorcerer's Apprentice : Picasso, Provence, and Douglas Cooper

Rating:
Summary: Bill Owens..Suburbia
Review: Bill Owens captured the great American Migration to the suburbia of the early seventies. Amidst the conformity suggested by social critics and our owm memories of having lived there, he found that which was uniquely human and individual. This loving document, now published in an improved second edition, brings to us a classic in documentary photography.

These are not the photographs of a cultural tourist. These views were secured through the trust reserved for the insider that he was. Lives of his friends and neighbors are captured in a time and place that no other photographer had the insight to document in such a dedicated and revealing fashion. Through these photographs we see and remember the awkward growth and construction of the sense of culture and neighborhood created from scratch. We are reminded that we were living life "in the local," free from the burden of ordained histories, in a place where everything was new and unused.

See and remember the life you thought everyone might want to forget. From the sinister implications of conformity, to the humorous recollections of the rituals of the middle class, Bill saw and recorded it all....a classic not to be forgotten.

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Summary: The point of this book escapes me.
Review: I purchased this book anticipating the pleasure with which I read Mr.Richardson's first two installments of his Picasso bio. Sadly I found this offering unconvincing. It is as much autobiographical as it is a biography of Douglas Cooper (The Sorcerer). The cast of characters is long and illustrious. Mr.Richardson devotes entire chapters to various incidents involving these players. Who cares? One's interest in them is only marginal at best.

The best of the book is reserved for Picasso. I found the chapter describing the suicide of his last mistress (Jaqueline Rocque) absolutely riveting and deeply disturbing. From beyond the grave he was still able to dominate her. Typical Picasso: total control of his women, even in death.

Douglas Cooper was obviously a clever and perceptive art dealer who built up a treasure of modern art and sadly stored it in a chateau with too many doors.

In summary I can only presume Mr.Richardson was paying off a debt to himself and others with this excercise. I am looking forward to Mr.Richardson's further episodes in the life of the true sorcerer; Pablo Picasso.

Rating:
Summary: an elegant retrospective
Review: john richardson gives us snippets of a fascinating period intertwining the lives of influential artists and personas. i only wish the book was longer and more descriptive of braque,guttoso and miro. if you collect or enjoy the cubists and their relatives,you will enjoy this book

Rating:
Summary: an elegant retrospective
Review: john richardson gives us snippets of a fascinating period intertwining the lives of influential artists and personas. i only wish the book was longer and more descriptive of braque,guttoso and miro. if you collect or enjoy the cubists and their relatives,you will enjoy this book

Rating:
Summary: Delicious/Malicious Fun, by fermed
Review: John Richardson has set aside his scholarly masterpiece (A Life of Picasso: Volumes I & II completed, Volumes III & IV eagerly awaited)to produce something bubbly and light; it is not soda-pop, though, but vintage champagne. Far different from the careful and meticulous research of his Picasso oeuvre, The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a welcome intermission and a clearing of the palate.

Richardson writes about himself and his friends, and especially about his love affair with Douglas Cooper ("The Sorcerer" of the title), art collector, critic and expert on cubism from whom Richardson learned a great deal, both good and bad.The book illuminates not only the relationship between the older, impossible, Cooper and his young apprentice, but also back lights aspects of Picasso, Braque, Lèger and Juan Gris as they are reflected in the tumultuous lives of that odd couple.

The author is an inveterate gossip, as good biographers should be. He likes to tell the little details that deflate or humanize others. He does not have the malice of Capote (although sometimes he comes close), and he is obviously too amiable and forgiving to twist the knife or seek idle revenge.

One cannot be sure about the motives that led to putting out this light froth between the serious stuff; I am glad it is out there, though, and glad I read it. Being taken into Mr. Richardson's confidence and getting to know him will make the enjoyment of his next Picasso volumes all the more intense.

Rating:
Summary: Marvelous.
Review: Readers looking for the third installment in the Picasso series should know that this wonderful book is not it -- we have another year or two to wait for that delightful experience. This is indeed an autobiographical journey with Richardson into the lives of some of the most fascinating people ever, not the least of whom is the delicious Mr. Richardson himself. Highly, highly recommended.

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Summary: New and fascinating views of Picasso and cubism.
Review: Richardson's fine survey of Douglas Cooper, who assembled the world's most important private cubist collection, provides an excellent consideration of both the man and his involvement in the arts and Richardson's personal involvement with Cooper's works. Chapters offer new views of Picasso based on Richardson's friendship with the artist, plus many other unusual insights on artists and works of the times. Highly recommended.