Product Description

In the tradition of our best-selling Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents (120 000 copies in print) here are outrageous and uncensored profiles of the world's greatest artists complete with hundreds of little-known politically incorrect and downright bizarre facts. Consider:

ï Michelangelo had such repellant body odor that his assistants couldn't stand working for him.
ï Pablo Picasso did jail time for ripping off several statues from the Louvre.
ï Gabriel Dante Rossetti's favorite pet was a wombat that slept on his dining room table.
ï Vincent van Gogh sometimes ate paint directly from the tube.
ï Georgia O'Keeffe liked to paint in the nude.
ï Salvador DalÌ concocted a perfume from dung to attract the attention of his future wife.

With outrageous anecdotes about everyone from Leonardo (accused sodomist) to Caravaggio (convicted murderer) to Edward Hopper (alleged wife beater) Secret Lives of Great Artists is an art history lesson you'll never forget!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51468 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781594742576
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Elizabeth Lunday is a journalist specializing in architecture and art. She writes the "Masterpieces" column for mental_ floss magazine and lives in Fort Worth, Texas

Customer Reviews

Secret lives
Not too bad. It's like an art history review with some extra tips you don't learn in class. The really juicy parts don't have too much detail though, unfortunately.

Review of Secret Lives of Great Artists
This is not only a well-researched book about the great art masters' lives but also a book full of laugh-out-loud humor. Who knew, as pointed out on page 48, that several of Michelangelo's assistants quit during the four years it took to complete the ceiling of the Sistine chapel - "..hardly suprising since the team lived together and shared a single bed. Since Michelangelo believed bathing was bad for his health, the staff may have been eager to make for the door as soon as possible."

Recommended for serious art history students, teachers, and those of us that just enjoy funny stories.

Secret Lives of Great Artists is a lively and fun read book on the masters of the palette
Secret Lives of the Great Artists is a sister volume to Secret Lives of Great Authors. These two books were recently published by Quirk Books.
This slim volume contains text and humorous drawings of the artists.
The author is Elizabeth Lunday; the artist is Mario Zucca.
Thirty-Five famous artists have their lives surveyed. Artists profiled include Leonardo, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, the Impressionist and such modern artists as Jackson Pollock, Edward Hopper and Andy Warhol. The book is a treasure trove of trivia such as these examples display:
Vincent Van Gogh enjoyed eating paint which may explain his weird behavior!
Frieda Kahlo had an affair with Leon Trotsky and enjoying bathing her 300 pound artist/husband the rotund Diego Rivera
Caravaggio murdered a man in a brawl.
Henri Rosseau was once convicted of bank fraud.
Gustav Klimt was terrified of traveling outside Vienna
Along the way the author provides tidbits about the Mona Lisa being without eyebrows; the Venus de Milo and Pre-Columbian art.
This is a fun book which pay interest young people in art.