Overview

At the center of an artistic milieu as vital and exciting as the Left Bank of Paris or Greenwich Village, Rosa and Miguel Covarrubias knew almost everyone in the limelight of the 1930s and 1940s-Langston Hughes, Carl Van Vechten, John Huston, Diego Rivera, and Frida Kahlo, to name just a few. As fascinating themselves as any of their friends, the couple together fostered a renaissance of interest in the history and traditional arts of Mexico's indigenous peoples, while amassing an extraordinary collection of art that ranged from pre-Hispanic Olmec and Aztec sculptures to the work of Diego Rivera. Written by a long-time friend of Rosa, this book presents a sparkling account of the life and times of Rosa and Miguel. Adriana Williams begins with Miguel's birth in 1904 and follows the brilliant early flowering of his artistic career as a renowned caricaturist for Vanity Fair and the New Yorker magazines, his meeting and marriage with Rosa at the height of her New York dancing career, and their many years of professional collaboration on projects ranging from dance to anthropology to painting and art collecting to the development of museums to preserve Mexico's pre-Columbian heritage. Interviewing as many of their friends as possible, Williams fills her narrative with reminiscences that illuminate Miguel's multifaceted talents, Rosa's crucial collaboration in many of his projects, and their often tempestuous relationship.

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9780292743526

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Reviews

"""[Williams'] detailed account of the lives, work and friends of Miguel and Rosa Covarrubias brings alive what some regard as the Golden Age of Mexican art in the 30s and 40s... Covarrubias is a handsomely produced and well presented book that gives a full and enlightening account of the career of the man who Antonio Rodriguez described as '...the encyclopedic artist of Mexico's rebirth...' in his El Nacional eulogy."" - British Bulletin of Publications on Latin America, the Caribbean, Portugal and Spain ""The rich tapestry of Mexican cultural life in the 1940s that [this book] evokes is spellbinding ..."" - Cynthia Steele, associate professor of Spanish, University of Washington"

[Williams'] detailed account of the lives, work and friends of Miguel and Rosa Covarrubias brings alive what some regard as the Golden Age of Mexican art in the 30s and 40s... Covarrubias is a handsomely produced and well presented book that gives a full and enlightening account of the career of the man who Antonio Rodriguez described as '...the encyclopedic artist of Mexico's rebirth...' in his El Nacional eulogy. - British Bulletin of Publications on Latin America, the Caribbean, Portugal and Spain The rich tapestry of Mexican cultural life in the 1940s that [this book] evokes is spellbinding ... - Cynthia Steele, associate professor of Spanish, University of Washington

Author Information

Adriana Williams, a native New Yorker and granddaughter of former Mexican President Plutarco Elías Calles, has written several books and articles about the Covarrubiases.

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