Iris Barry (1895–1969) was one of the first critics to recognize film as an art form. The mother of film preservation internationally; she founded the film department at New York Citys Museum of Modern Art and became its first curator; cementing filmrsquo;s critical legitimacy. Drawing on letters; memorabilia; and other documentary sources; Robert Sitton reconstructs Barrys remarkable life and work; sharing the story of a thoroughly modern muse and mentor to some of the most influential artists of her day. Although she had the bearing of a British aristocrat; Barry was the self-educated daughter of a brass founder and a palm-reader from the Isle of Man. An aspiring poet; her early work attracted the attention of Ezra Pound; whose letters to Barry comprise the essence of his thoughts on writing. Moving to London at Pounds suggestion in 1917; Barry joined a demimonde of Bloomsbury figures; including Ford Maddox Ford; T. S. Eliot; Arthur Waley; Edith Sitwell; and William Butler Yeats; and fell in love with Poundrsquo;s eccentric fellow Vorticist; Wyndham Lewis. During these tumultuous years; Barry launched a career as a novelist; biographer; and critic of motion pictures; which were dismissed as lower-class amusements. She wrote articles for the Spectator positioning film as a new art form and in 1925 cofounded the London Film Society. Emigrating to America in 1930; Barry joined the modernist Askew Salon; where she met Alfred Barr Jr.; the director of the new Museum of Modern Art. Barr helped Barry establish a film library and convince powerful Hollywood interests to submit their work for exhibition; creating a significant new respect for film and prompting the founding of the International Federation of Film Archives; for which Barry served as Life President. Barry continued to augment MoMArsquo;s film library until World War II; when she joined the Office of Strategic Services to develop pro-American films with Orson Welles; Walt Disney; John Houston; Samuel Goldwyn; and Frank Capra. Yet despite these patriotic efforts; Barryrsquo;s “foreignnessrdquo; and association with such filmmakers as Luis Buntilde;uel made her the target of an anticommunist witch hunt. She eventually left for France; working for MoMA only as consultant. Barry died in obscurity; her contribution to film and cultural history largely forgotten. Sitton reclaims her phenomenal achievements while recasting the political involvement of artistic institutions in the early twentieth century.
#1279000 in eBooks 2012-06-01 2012-06-01File Name: B00HZFYKCM
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Interesting but not the most well written bookBy David WIf you are interested in how a golf course is designed; then this book would be of interest. But its not laid out in the most logical of ways in my opinion. It is kind of confusing that there are 18 chapters that start by detailing the 18 holes on the course but the descriptions start before the discussion of the course itself. I could even live with that but then there are 22 chapters total. Something was amiss. The author could even have done 19 chapters; since they built an extra alternate hole (as explained in the book). I enjoyed it; but it just didnt flow well.The book could also be improved by now adding an addendum. The course has been open for several years; and the St. Andrews Links Trust has made some of the greens less severe and also removed some of the "features" that David McLay KIdd added to the course. It would be fasicinating to get some thoughts from Kidd about how he feels about those changes.I am heading to Scotland to play in the spring; and I was on the fence about playing the Castle Course. I figured that after I read this book and seeing how the course came alive; I would really want to play it. Im still on the fence about whether to play it or not.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A really good read...By JP Czarnot just about the construction of a new course in St. Andrews; but also about Kidds construction crew; etc...I was first introduced to Mr. Kidd in the book Dream Golf and his involvement at Bandon Dunes. Now; a native of Scotland; Kidd gets to role up his sleeves and leave his mark in Scotland.This is a fairly personal account. It wouldnt appear that many details were left out.A very fine read...0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy CustomerGreat story; History and comments by the designer/architect
