Dora Maar - With and Without Picasso: A Biography
Dora Maar - With and Without Picasso: A Biography
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Customer Review: Excellent Art, Science and Integration of the Two
Professor Miller’s book demonstrates an impressive knowledge across the histories of art and science, a knowledge that is sufficiently deep to allow a clarity of expression that contains some of the best writing I have seen on art history, and that is also very good on theories of physics. Miller argues strongly that Picasso’s Demoiselles was influenced, amongst other things, by ideas of Non-Euclidean Geometry and the Fourth Dimension, transmitted via the writings of Poincare and via Princet - the “mathematician in residence” of the Cubists. Whilst he paints a more detailed and convincing story of this than does Linda Henderson’s seminal work on the topic, I was personally left unconvinced that these ideas of mathematics and science were necessary components of Picasso’s startling insights. That shouldn’t detract from reading an extremely well written book, that is both very descriptive of two fields of human endeavour, and pleasingly integrative between them. I was particularly pleased by the emphasis given to the aesthetic (and anti-positivist) nature of leading scientific thought - this is a message that needs to be conveyed to those whose grasp of the meaning of science is dangerously flawed. Above all, the linking theme between Einstein and Picasso is their humanity - or perhaps their “super” humanity, their common ability to process information in astounding and breakthrough ways - this is a message that needs to be clearly transmitted and received at a time when increasing specialisation across disciplines can lead to unhelpful stereotyping, and self-fulfilling prophecy. People who know a bit about art, or physics will gain a lot of insight into the other world from this book. People who think scientists are rational calculating machines, and people who think Picasso couldn’t paint (you know who you are), should be bought this as a gift by those who know differently!
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