My Dear BB ...: The Letters of Bernard Berenson and Kenneth Clark, 1925--1959 - Hardcover

Cumming, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300207379 ISBN 13: 9780300207378

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2015

Synopsis

In 1925, the 22-year-old Kenneth Clark (1903-1983) and the legendary art critic and historian Bernard Berenson (1865-1959) met in Italy. From that moment, they began a correspondence that lasted until Berenson's death at age 94. This book makes available, for the first time, the complete correspondence between two of the most influential figures in the 20th-century art world, and gives a new and unique insight into their lives and motivations. The letters are arranged into ten chronological sections, each accompanied by biographical details and providing the context for the events and personalities referred to. They were both talented letter writers: informative, spontaneous, humorous, gossipy, and in their frequent letters they exchanged news and views about art and politics, friends and family life, collectors, connoisseurship, discoveries, books read and written, and travel. Berenson advised Clark on his blossoming career, warning against the museum and commercial art worlds while encouraging his promise as a writer and interpreter of the arts. Above all, these letters trace the development of a deep and intimate friendship.

About this title

Product Description:

In 1925, Kenneth Clark, then 22, met the legendary art critic Bernard Berenson in Italy. Both were talented letter writers - informative, spontaneous and gossipy - and their correspondence continued until Berensons death, aged 94, in 1959. Published in full for the first time, the letters chart Berensons role as mentor to Clarks burgeoning career, and are packed with fascinating reflections on friends and family, travel, politics, books read and written, art and life.

Review:

'Robert Cumming's informative and shrewd linking commentaries, footnoted glosses and lively biographical appendix all enhance and illuminate the letters. There a skittish touches that are thoroughly endearing. He lets the correspondence's 'evolving continuity' stand as an 'authentic testimony'.'--Richard Davenport-Hines, Literary Review.
-- (04/01/2015)

"Serves not only as a record of the friendship of these two giants but as a cultural chronicle of an era."--Robert B. Simon, Burlington-- (08/01/2017)

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0300207379
• ISBN 13: 9780300207378
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352