The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 18 September 2009
by John Updike
In 2001, in Just Looking, Updike published a small collection of his essays on art that had appeared in several publications. This book (2006) is a kind of sequel to that, collecting eighteen of Updike's essays, this time specifically about American art. Most of these essays refer to specific exhibitions, groups of exhibitions or specific exhibition catalogs. The collection depicts an arc of American artists from John Singleton Copley through Winslow Homer, Childe Hassam, Edward Hopper, down to Andy Warhol. The arc is convincing, and one artist does seem to lead into another, particularly with reference to Alfred Stieglitz and a couple of the artists he nurtured in his New York galleries. Whether through the vagaries of particular writing assignments, editor's or author's choice, all of the artists here are men, and all but two are painters (with Stieglitz's photography and Elie Nadelman's sculpture the exceptions). So, given this selection, somewhat narrow in the result, the collection of essays is still convincing. Updike is certainly a good writer. His novels show an acute observation that lends itself to the contemplation of the visual arts. It likely helps that Updike himself had some education in the arts and once pursued a furtive art career. Perhaps because he is also a close reader of the exhibition catalogs, he definitely comes off as an erudite and observant commentator on the art that hangs before him. The essays are brief, witty, conversational and demonstrate a certain compassionate approach to the lives of these artists and the way they fit into our history. Edward Hopper gets two chapters to himself, and the way Updike writes about him suggests Hopper is one of the author's favorites. The book is fabulously illustrated, with fine color reproductions of many of the works Updike writes about (in the Knopf hardcover edition). These are fine essays, but the reader should also consider them a jumping off point toward exploring American or world art, or just to going out to the nearest art museum to look.
See Also: [Just Looking]
Also by Updike:
[The Centaur]
[S.]
[The Poorhouse Fair]
[Of the Farm]
[Rabbit, Run]
[Rabbit Redux]
[Rabbit is Rich]
[Rabbit at Rest]
[Licks of Love]
[Toward the End of Time]
[The Witches of Eastwick]
See also: [Updike, by Adam Begley]