[DOC] The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV by Stephen Tropiano in Arts-Photography

Review

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A big disappointment.By Larry in SFI was profoundly disappointed in this book. It plunges the understanding of the art of Thomas Eakins to a new low. It is full of straw. Rather than illuminating us; it actually obscures Eakinss work with misleading; sensational Fruedian-like interpretations. Does anyone really need to be enlightened about the evidence of a latent homosexuality; a resoundingly discredited theory; to understand Eakins and his work? I am a figurative painter; so for me some of the more glaring weaknesses in this book have to do with formal analyses of the paintings. One example is the description of the painting of the artists sister at the piano; who is turning to look at a child playing on the floor. We are told that the perspective of this picture is from the childs very low eye level; and whatever that means in psychological terms. Wrong. We see the top of the piano in that picture; which would definitely not be seen at the low eye level the author identifies. Another example is his begging-the-question by submitting that everyone knows it is not necessary to be obsessed with anatomy like Eakins was in order to paint a good figure. He misses the point. Great artists are obsessed with their art; almost by definition; and far from being an expression of pathology; a masterpiece like The Swimming Hole would not exist without Eakinss so-called obsession with the anatomy of the human figure. The new information about Eakins that was uncovered in recent years is important; but we need a less ham-fisted deconstruction of it; and one less obscured by the authors own shadow.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Three StarsBy JAMES BRANCACCIOThis is an informative book about Eakins but the author tends to too much psychobabble and conjecture.13 of 19 people found the following review helpful. SuperbBy John Michael AlbertLike most people who recognize the name; I came to Eakins first through "The Swimmers;" an amazingly perfect painting. Later; I saw similar qualities in the rowing paintings; and realized that he was not a one hit wonder. Since then; my personal discovery of more paintings and the photographys have double underscored the mastery and the mystery I detected in each work. Reading about him; however; has been of little help. It seemed that articles were all over the place; each selecting a very particular array of facts from his wildly varied life and ignoring the facts of the other. Confusing; to say the least. This book; thankfully; pulls it all together for me. Its in three sections: the first summarizes writing about Eakins to date; the second goes through his life and works chronologically; and the third (like any good scholarly work) expostulates the authors own synthesis of the available data. Perhaps most distracting to potential readers may be the heavy reliance on Freudian psychology as an interpretive tool; a tool absolutely essential to a life so full of artifacts and so nearly devoid of primary-source; prose interpretation of their significance. If you either dont buy Freud or find it difficult to willing suspend your disbelief for the sake of argument; this book will be a big zero for you. On the other hand; I am so grateful to have such a rich resource that draws together the obvious mastery of Eakins with the shadowy mystery of his life that Ive intuited but been unable to name before now. As with most of the great questions about the origins of art; there are no concrete answers; too much is unknown; we have to assume too much from scattered iconographic hints. But this is a damned good exposition of both the questions; as they pertain to Eakins life; and possible answers that leave me more enthusiastic about Eakinss art; and more inspired by his craft than before.