From Library Journal
Many of the familiar images of artists and intellectuals living in this country following World War II are the work of German-born American photographer Hans Namuth (1915-90). The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery is currently displaying its collection of 75 of Namuth's photographs. Although his work has appeared in magazines, books, and documentary films, little is known about him. Carr, the National Portrait Gallery's deputy director and organizer of the exhibition, has written the most comprehensive biographical study to date for this accompanying catalog. In 1950, Namuth took over 500 stills of Jackson Pollock working in his studio, which he described in Pollock Painting (LJ 3/15/81), and launched a career filming the "essence" of artistic creativity. Namuth's intimate, straightforward portraits chronicle the working techniques of such legendary figures as Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius, John Steinbeck, Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth, Louise Nevelson, Stephen Sondheim, and, most notably, the Abstract Expressionists. Recommended as a record of America's cultural achievements in the 20th century.AJoan Levin, MLS, Chicago Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Accompanied by a biographical essay by Carolyn Kinder Carr, this collection of seventy-five of Hans Namuth's photographic portraits, taken between 1950 and 1989, shows how his friendships with his numerous subjects and his determination to capture the essence of each artist resulted in revealing portraits of such notable painters as Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, Andrew Wyeth, Helen Frankenthaler, and Andy Warhol. Namuth used pose, setting, and detail in a subtle but telling manner. John Steinbeck appears with his famous dog Charley, Philip Johnson stands jauntily on a staircase in the Museum of Modern Art beside a painting that he donated; an imperious Louise Nevelson wears jewelry that echoes the sweeping lines of her wood sculpture. Carr sets the stage for Namuth's photographic career in America by describing his youth in prewar Germany, his early work as a documentary photographer in Paris and in Spain during the Civil War, his escape from internment in France in 1939, his immigration to New York in 1941, and his wartime intelligence work for the United States Army.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal