Sorrow is “not a state but a process” that needs “not a map but a history. . . . There is something new to be chronicled every day,” writes C. S. Lewis in A Grief Observed. When Carl Klaus's wife of thirty-five years died suddenly from a cerebral hemorrhage, right before Thanksgiving in 2002, he took the only road toward recovery that made sense to him: he started writing letters to her, producing a unique history of grief, solace, and love. His vivid and thoughtful letters will resonate with everyone whose loss confronts them with emotional, psychological, and philosophical questions for which there are no easy answers.During his first year without Kate, Carl writes himself into the life that comes after the life he loved. From days of grief in the darkness of a midwestern winter, to springtime, with a return to life in the garden and a memorial service for Kate on a sunny afternoon, to fall, with a pilgrimage to their favorite vacation spot in Hawaii, Carl documents his year-long experience of remembering, meditating, and evolving a new life. Individually his letters provide the insights of a master diarist; collectively, they have the arc of a master essayist. Recording the full range of mourning from intense shock to moments of exceptional affirmation, Klaus's stories and reflections on loss bear witness to universal truths about the first and most significant year of mourning.
In this diary of retirement, acclaimed writing teacher Carl Klaus guides us through a passage that we all must take, one that forces us to confront the deeply disorienting issues of identity and mortality as well as the pleasures of creating a whole new life.
Essays, written and collected over ten years, documenting Carl Klaus' 80s. Topics ranging from aging, food, finances, health, reading, writing, Trump, and social upheavals"--
Confident or fretful, solemn or sassy, tough or tender, casual or formal: the self you project in writing—your persona—is the byproduct of numerous decisions you make about what to say and how to say it. Though any single word or phrase or sentence might make little difference within the scope of an entire essay or book, collectively they create an impression of who you are or seem to be—an impression that’s sure to influence how readers respond to your work. Thus it’s essential to take charge of how you come across on the page, to craft an appropriate persona for whatever you’re writing, whether it’s a personal essay, a blog, a technical report, a letter to the editor, or a memoir. In this wise and ingenious little guide, noted essayist Carl Klaus shows you how to adapt your self to the needs of such varied nonfiction, by varying his own persona to illustrate the distinctive effect produced by each aspect and element of writing. Klaus divides his book into two parts: first, an introduction to the nature and function of a persona, then a survey of the most important elements of writing that contribute to the character of a persona, from point of view and organization to diction and sentence structure. Both parts contain exercises that will give you practice in developing a persona of your choice. Challenging and stimulating, each of his exercises focuses on a distinctly different aspect of composition and style, so as to help you develop the skills of a versatile and personable writer. By focusing on the most important ways of projecting your self in nonfiction prose, you can learn to craft a distinctive self in your writing.
The human presence that animates the personal essay is surely one of the most beguiling of literary phenomena, for it comes across in so familiar a voice that it’s easy to believe we are listening to the author rather than a textual stand-in. But the “person” in a personal essay is always a written construct, a fabricated character, its confessions and reminiscences as rehearsed as those of any novelist. In this first book-length study of the personal essay, Carl Klaus unpacks this made-up self and the manifold ways in which a wide range of essayists and essays have brought it to life. By reconceiving the most fundamental aspect of the personal essay—the I of the essayist—Klaus demonstrates that this seemingly uncontrived form of writing is inherently problematic, not willfully devious but bordering upon the world of fiction. He develops this key idea by explaining how structure, style, and voice determine the nature of a persona and our perception of it in the works of such essayists as Michel de Montaigne, Charles Lamb, E. B. White, and Virginia Woolf. Realizing that this persona is shaped by the force of culture and the impress of personal experience, he explores the effects of both upon the point of view, content, and voice of such essayists as George Orwell, Nancy Mairs, Richard Rodriguez, and Alice Walker. Throughout, in full command of the history of the essay, he calls up numerous passages in which essayists themselves acknowledge the element of impersonation in their work, drawing upon the perspectives of Joan Didion, Edward Hoagland, Joyce Carol Oates, Leslie Marmon Silko, Scott Russell Sanders, Annie Dillard, Vivian Gornick, Loren Eiseley, James Baldwin, and a host of other literary guides. Finally, adding yet another layer to the made-up self, Klaus succumbs to his addiction to the personal essay by placing some of the different selves that various essayists have called forth in him within the essays that he has crafted so carefully for this book. Making his way from one essay to the next with a persona variously learned, whimsical, and poignant, he enacts the palimpsest of ways in which the made-up self comes to life in the work of a single essayist. Thus over the course of this highly original, beautifully structured study, the personal essay is revealed to be more complex than many readers have supposed. With its lively analyses and illuminating examples, The Made-Up Self will speak to anyone who wishes to understand—or to write—personal essays.
“Home gardeners, cooks and nature lovers will savor this delightful account” of a journey from first spring planting to final fall harvest (Publishers Weekly). My Vegetable Love is a daily record of a growing season in Iowa—but it’s about much more than planting peppers, tending tomatoes, or harvesting eggplants. It’s about all the things that influence this gardener: the weather, the neighborhood, his wife’s possibly recurring cancer, the changing nature of the academic community. It’s about the last months of his twenty-year-old cat, about his dog, and about all the other humans and animals in his gardening world. And about his family: the aunts and uncles who cared for and fed a six-year-old orphan, and helped him understand that good food was a way of knowing that someone cared. In all the gardens he has tended, the dills he has pickled, and the dinners he has cooked, Carl H. Klaus has tried to carry on that tradition and pass it on to his own children—and in this “delectable” book, he shares it with us as well (Publishers Weekly). “Part Gilbert White, part Henry David Thoreau, this chronicle of an Iowa gardener’s year has drawn from the heartland a calm, compassionate harvest.” —Roger B. Swain, host of PBS’s Victory Garden “Wholeheartedly celebrates friendship, love, pets, the elements of family, academia, cooking, eating—and of course, gardening . . . Bon appétit—and good reading.” —Smithsonian
Klaus, founder and former director of the University of Iowa's non- fiction writing program, presents an entirely charming daybook of seasonal change, from the frozen frisee of the late December garden to the setting out of onion sets and radishes in mid-March. Meditations range from food, weather, and the feeding of birds to the nature of change and the latent promise of a garden. 5.5x6". Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Art Deco style was established on the ashes of a disappeared world, the one from before the First World War, and on the foundation stone of a world yet to become, opened to the most undisclosed promises. Forgetting herself in the whirl of Jazz Age and the euphoria of the “Années Folles”, the Garçonne with her linear shape reflects the architectural style of Art Deco: to the rounded curves succeed the simple and plain androgynous straight line... Architecture, painting, furniture and sculpture, dissected by the author, proclaim the druthers for sharp lines and broken angles. Although ephemeral, this movement keeps on influencing contemporary design.
Deriving from the French word rocaille, in reference to the curved forms of shellfish, and the Italian barocco, the French created the term ‘Rococo’. Appearing at the beginning of the 18th century, it rapidly spread to the whole of Europe. Extravagant and light, Rococo responded perfectly to the spontaneity of the aristocracy of the time. In many aspects, this art was linked to its predecessor, Baroque, and it is thus also referred to as late Baroque style. While artists such as Tiepolo, Boucher and Reynolds carried the style to its apogee, the movement was often condemned for its superficiality. In the second half of the 18th century, Rococo began its decline. At the end of the century, facing the advent of Neoclassicism, it was plunged into obscurity. It had to wait nearly a century before art historians could restore it to the radiance of its golden age, which is rediscovered in this work by Klaus H. Carl and Victoria Charles.
Ever since the ancient Greeks sculpted the first kouros, children have been a source of inspiration for some of the world's greatest artists.Whether portraits of their own children, friends, and family members, or a nostalgic psychological portrayal of the artist's own youth, depictions of children in art remain arresting examples of an intersection between the picturesque innocence of childhood and the methodical work of adult artistry.In this delightful new puzzle book, children get a chance to see little boys and girls just like them as portrayed by great artists, learning about how children grew up throughout history while experiencing a genuine connection with works of artistic genius.
Die Soziologie wissenschaftlichen Ruhms ist weitgehend unerforscht. Ein Versuch, ihn mit behavioristischen Methoden für die Politikwissenschaft zu analysieren, den Somit und Tanenhaus unternahmen, zählt zu den Faktoren, die wissenschaftlichen Ruhm bedingen: originelle Ideen, Beiträge zur Syste matisierung, Anregung wissenschaftlicher Forschung, Publikation vielge brauchter Lehrbücher und organisatorische Fähigkeiten. Carl Joachim Friedrich wurde bei dieser Analyse - obwohl ihr gelegentlich ein behaviori stisches bias nachgesagt wurde - von einem grossen Prozentsatz der inter viewten Politikwissenschaftler sehr häufig zu den bedeutendsten Gelehrten seines Faches gezählt. Einmalig war die Dauer der wissenschaftlichen Hoch schätzung, die er in einer Zeit einer immer kurzlebiger werdenden wissen schaftlichen Reputation genoss. Friedrich war neben Lasswell einer der wenigen, die sowohl vor 1945 als auch nach 1945 unter den 15 bedeutendsten Politikwissenschaftlern genannt wurden.! Es wird schwer sein, unter den fünf Voraussetzungen wissenschaftlicher Reputation einen einzelnen Grund für die Bedeutung C.J. Friedrichs herauszustellen. Neue Ideen entwickelte Friedrich - so umstritten manche (vor allem in der Totalitarismusforschung) gewesen sein mögen - besonders in der Erfor schung des Konstitutionalismus, des Föderalismus und des Totalitarismus. Seine bekanntesten Beiträge zur Systematisierung der Forschungsergebnisse sind die Werke "Constitutional Government and Democracy" (1937 ff.) und "Man and His Government" (1963)
Ever since the ancient Greeks sculpted the first kouros, children have been a source of inspiration for some of the world's greatest artists.Whether portraits of their own children, friends, and family members, or a nostalgic psychological portrayal of the artist's own youth, depictions of children in art remain arresting examples of an intersection between the picturesque innocence of childhood and the methodical work of adult artistry.In this delightful new puzzle book, children get a chance to see little boys and girls just like them as portrayed by great artists, learning about how children grew up throughout history while experiencing a genuine connection with works of artistic genius.
Gothic art finds its roots in the powerful architecture of the cathedrals of northern France. It is a medieval art movement that evolved throughout Europe over more than 200 years. Leaving curved Roman forms behind, the architects started using flying buttresses and pointed arches to open up cathedrals to daylight. A period of great economic and social change, the Gothic era also saw the development of a new iconography celebrating the Holy Mary – in drastic contrast to the fearful themes of dark Roman times. Full of rich changes in all of the various art forms (architecture, sculpture, painting, etc.), Gothic art paved the way for the Italian Renaissance and International Gothic movement.
“I am not interested in myself as a subject for painting, but in others, particularly women...”Beautiful, sensuous and above all erotic, Gustav Klimt’s paintings speak of a world of opulence and leisure, which seems aeons away from the harsh, post-modern environment we live in now. The subjects he treats – allegories, portraits, landscapes and erotic figures – contain virtually no reference to external events, but strive rather to create a world where beauty, above everything else, is dominant. His use of colour and pattern was profoundly influenced by the art of Japan, ancient Egypt, and Byzantium. Ravenne, the flat, two-dimensional perspective of his paintings, and the frequently stylised quality of his images form an oeuvre imbued with a profound sensuality and one where the figure of woman, above all, reigns supreme. Klimt’s very first works brought him success at an unusually young age. Gustav, born in 1862, obtained a state grant to study at Kunstgewerbeschule (the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts) at the age of fourteen. His talents as a draughtsman and painter were quickly noticed, and in 1879 he formed the Künstlercompagnie (Artists’ Company) with his brother Ernst and another student, Franz Matsch. The latter part of the nineteenth century was a period of great architectural activity in Vienna. In 1857, the Emperor Franz Joseph had ordered the destruction of the fortifications that had surrounded the medieval city centre. The Ringstrasse was the result, a budding new district with magnificent buildings and beautiful parks, all paid for by public expenses. Therefore the young Klimt and his partners had ample opportunities to show off their talents, and they received early commissions to contribute to the decorations for the pageant organised to celebrate the silver wedding anniversary of the Emperor Franz Joseph and the Empress Elisabeth. In 1894, Matsch moved out of their communal studio, and in 1897 Klimt, together with his closest friends, resigned from the Künstlerhausgenossenschaft (the Cooperative Society of Austrian Artists) to form a new movement known as the Secession, of which he was immediately elected president. The Secession was a great success, holding both a first and second exhibition in 1898. The movement made enough money to commission its very own building, designed for it by the architect Joseph Maria Olbrich. Above the entrance was its motto: “To each age its art, to art its freedom.” From around 1897 onward, Klimt spent almost every summer on the Attersee with the Flöge family. These were periods of peace and tranquillity in which he produced the landscape paintings constituting almost a quarter of his entire oeuvre. Klimt made sketches for virtually everything he did. Sometimes there were over a hundred drawings for one painting, each showing a different detail – a piece of clothing or jewellery, or a simple gesture. Just how exceptional Gustav Klimt was is perhaps reflected in the fact that he had no predecessors and no real followers. He admired Rodin and Whistler without slavishly copying them, and was admired in turn by the younger Viennese painters Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka, both of whom were greatly influenced by Klimt.
Ever since the ancient greeks sculpted the first kouros, children have been a source of inspiration for some of the world’s greatest artists. Whether portraits of their own children, friends, and family members, or a nostalgic psychological portrayal of the artist’s own youth, depictions of children in art remain arresting examples of an intersection between the picturesque innocence of childhood and the methodical work of adult artistry. In this delightful new puzzle book, children get a chance to see little boys and girls just like them as portrayed by great artists, learning about how children grew up throughout history while experiencing a genuine connection with works of artistic genius.
Ever since the ancient greeks sculpted the first kouros, children have been a source of inspiration for some of the world’s greatest artists. Whether portraits of their own children, friends, and family members, or a nostalgic psychological portrayal of the artist’s own youth, depictions of children in art remain arresting examples of an intersection between the picturesque innocence of childhood and the methodical work of adult artistry. In this delightful new puzzle book, children get a chance to see little boys and girls just like them as portrayed by great artists, learning about how children grew up throughout history while experiencing a genuine connection with works of artistic genius.
Chaïm Soutine (1893-1943), der unkonventionelle und umstrittene Maler aus Weißrussland, vereint Einflüsse der klassischen europäischen Malerei mit denen des Post-Impressionismus und des Expressionismus. Als Mitglied der Künstler aus Weißrussland, einer Gruppe innerhalb der École de Paris, schuf er ein Werk, das hauptsächlich aus Landschaften, Stillleben und Porträts besteht. Sein individueller Stil, der sich durch Humor und Trauer und den Gebrauch von leuchtenden Farben auszeichnet, machen ihn zu einem modernen Meister, der immer noch wenig verstanden ist. Klaus H. Carl, Schriftsteller, Professor und Fotograf, ist der Autor zahlreicher Bücher und Artikel. Er widmet sich gerade dem Bildband Weltgeschichte der Kunst: 180000 v. Chr. -- 2000 n. Chr.
Condemned by the Nazis as a degenerate artist, Franz Marc (1880-1916) was a German painter whose stark linearity and emotive use of color eloquently expressed the pain and trauma of war. In work such as his celebrated Fate of the Animals, Marc created a raw emotional expression of primitive violence which he called a premonition of the war which would eventually be the cause of his own untimely death at the age of 36.
Franz Marc (1880-1916) was a key figure in the German Expressionist movement of the early 20th century. Marc was a founding member of the expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter along with other great artists of the time: Wassily Kandinsky, August Macke, and Alexej von Jawlensky. A brilliant use of colour along with stark futurist and cubist styles create the distinct qualities that make Marc a master of modern art. Symbolising masculinity, femininity, and violence among his calm and bucolic animal subjects, Marc's unique and creative use of colour and meaning will forever have a firm place in art history.
Chaïm Soutine (1893-1943), the unconventional and controversial painter of Belorussian origin, combines influences of classic European painting with Post-Impressionism and Expressionism. As a member of the Artists from Belarus, a group within the Parisian School, he created an oeuvre mainly consisting of landscapes, still lifes, and portraits. His individual style, characterised by displays of humour and despair and by use of luminous colours, makes him a modern master who is still little understood.
El espíritu, el carácter, la vida, la obra y el método de pintar de Rembrandt son un completo misterio. Lo que podemos adivinar de su naturaleza esencial proviene de sus pinturas y de incidentes triviales o trágicos de su infortunada existencia; su inclinación por la vida ostentosa lo obligó a declararse en bancarrota. Sus desgracias no son del todo comprensibles y su obra refleja ideas perturbadoras e impulsos contradictorios que emergen de las profundidades de su ser, como la luz y las sombras en sus cuadros. A pesar de todo, tal vez nada en la historia del arte causa una impresión más profunda de unidad que sus pinturas, compuestas de elementos tan distintos y llenos de significados complejos. El espectador siente que el intelecto de Rembrandt, esa mente genial, grandiosa, osada y libre de toda servidumbre que lo guiaba a través de las más elevadas reflexiones y los más sublimes ensueños, se deriva de la misma fuente que sus emociones. De ahí el trágico elemento que plasmó en todo lo que pintaba, sin importar el tema; en su obra coexiste la desigualdad con lo sublime, algo que puede parecer la consecuencia inevitable de una existencia tan tumultuosa. Pareciera como si aquella personalidad singular, extraña, atractiva y casi enigmática hubiera sido lenta para desarrollarse, o al menos para alcanzar su completa expansión. Rembrandt demostró talento y una visión original del mundo a muy temprana edad, como lo prueban sus grabados de la juventud y sus primeros autorretratos realizados alrededor de 1630. Sin embargo, en la pintura no encontró de inmediato el método necesario para expresar las cosas, todavía incomprensibles, que deseaba expresar; le faltaba ese método audaz, completo y personal que admiramos en las obras maestras de su madurez y ancianidad. A pesar de su sutileza, en su época se le juzgó brutal, lo que ciertamente contribuyó a alejar a su público. A pesar de ello, desde sus inicios y una vez logrado el éxito, la iluminación fue parte importante de su concepción de la pintura y la convirtió en el principal instrumento de sus investigaciones de los misterios de la vida interior. Ya le había revelado la poesía de la fisonomía humana cuando pintó El filósofo meditando o La Sagrada Familia, tan maravillosamente absorta en su modesta intimidad, o, por ejemplo, en El ángel Rafael dejando a Tobías. Muy pronto aquello no fue suficiente. La guardia nocturna marca de inmediato la apoteosis de su reputación. Tenía una curiosidad universal y vivía, meditaba, soñaba y pintaba replegado en sí mismo. De los grandes venecianos tomó prestados sus temas, convirtiéndolos en un arte que brotaba de una vida interior de emociones profundas. Los temas mitológicos y religiosos los trató de la misma manera que sus retratos. Todo lo que tomaba de la realidad y hasta de las obras de otros lo transmutaba al instante en parte de su propia sustancia.
Deriving from the French word rocaille, in reference to the curved forms of shellfish, and the Italian Barocco, the French created the term Rococo. Appearing at the beginning of the 18th-century, it rapidly spread to the whole of Europe. Extravagant and light, Rococo responded perfectly to the spontaneity of the aristocracy of the time. In many aspects, this art was linked to its predecessor, Baroque, and it is thus also referred to as late Baroque style. While artists such as Tiepolo, Boucher and Reynolds carried the style to its apogee, the movement was often condemned for its superficiality. In the second half of the 18th-century, Rococo began its decline. At the end of the century, facing the advent of Neoclassicism, it was plunged into obscurity. It had to wait nearly a century before art historians could restore it to the radiance of its golden age, which is rediscovered in this work by Klaus H. Carl and Victoria Charles.
According to the defined canons of art technique, a portrait should be, above all, a faithful representation of its model. However, this gallery of 1000 portraits illustrates how the genre has been transformed throughout history, and has proven itself to be much more complex than a simple imitation of reality. Beyond exhibiting the skill of the artist, the portrait must surpass the task of imitation, as just and precise as it may be, to translate both the intention of the artist as well as that of its patron, without betraying eitherÊs wishes. Therefore, these silent witnesses, carefully selected in these pages, reveal more than faces of historic figures or anonymous subjects: they reveal a psychology more than an identity, illustrate an allegory, serve as political and religious propaganda, and embody the customs of their epochs. With its impressive number of masterpieces, biographies, and commentaries on works, this book presents and analyses different portraits, consequently exposing to the reader, and to any art lover, a reflection of the evolution of society, and above all the upheavals of a genre that, over 300 centuries of painting, has shaped the history of art.
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