Joel L. Schiff was born in Chicago and has a PhD in mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He spent his career at the University of Auckland and has written three books on various mathematical subjects (published by Springer-Verlag and John Wiley & Sons). He has also been a successful part-time asteroid hunter and was the founder/publisher of an international journal on meteorites. Having a lifelong interest in art, he is also an artist who paints in oils and in 2014 had a book published about the New Zealand/ Australian/British artist, Grace Joel. Research revealed that Ms Joel (no relation) studied at the well-known Académie Julian in Paris and it was then that the author discovered another Julian student, Marie Bashkirtseff, one of the most fascinating individuals of the 19th century. He has been obsessed with her ever since, traveling to Moscow, St Petersburg, Paris, and Naples in pursuit of the story of this extraordinary young woman.
"Marie Bashkirtseff was no ordinary 19th century woman. Her
aristocratic Ukrainian family moved to Paris, where she was
privately tutored and blossomed into a young woman who spoke many
languages, played numerous musical instruments, and longed for a
stage career, but turned her hand to painting. She soon began
exhibiting her work at the notable annual Paris Salon, the premier
venue for artists.
As if this weren't enough, she was also a philosopher and writer,
and her journal of some 20,000 pages has been pared down here to
supplement Joel L. Schiff's survey of her amazing artistic prowess
in Portrait of a Young Genius: The Mind and Art of Marie
Bashkirtseff.
With such a palette of genius to choose from as far as what to
profile, it must have been a real challenge to adequately represent
Marie Bashkirtseff's many abilities in the confines of a single
book. How many others dream of founding an art school for women
(just one limitation of her sex that she railed against) in the
1800s, for just one example?
One doesn't expect fierce rivalries to enter the portrait of a
woman of these times, but this, too, reflects Marie's abilities,
fiery personality, and determination, fueling a biography that
traces more than her genius alone and placing it in historical,
social, and psychological perspective.
Given these disparate facets, it would have been impossible to
adequately represent Marie's world through standard biographical
third-person exploration; which is why Schiff adopts an unusual
mode of presentation: he begins with the usual biographical survey
of her life, but then allows her own voice to speak in a second
section which profiles a single journal excerpt (in English
translation from the original French) on each left-hand page,
juxtaposed with one of her art pieces on its facing page. (It
should also be noted that vintage photos and illustrations pepper
the rest of the survey, as well, adding visual emphasis to an
outstanding woman's world.)
While Portrait of a Young Genius will undoubtedly find a place in
artists' collections, it would be a shame to see its audience
limited to artists alone. Women's history holdings, especially
those strong in biographical portraits of extraordinary individuals
whose stories have largely been lost over time, will find Portrait
of a Young Genius a 'must have' addition, not only capturing this
young woman's life, but synthesizing its meaning with a sense of
her times and the limitations imposed upon women.
Portrait of a Young Genius is very, very highly recommended for its
multi-faceted approach and wide-ranging discussions, designed to
keep readers immersed to the end and involved in the life of a
woman they likely have never heard of before, but will come to
intimately know and deeply admire."Diane Donovan, Midwest Book
Review
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