Pauline Boty: British Pop Art’s Sole Sister
£18.20£23.80 (-24%)
‘Brings the British pop artist, Pauline Boty, into vivid focus’ – VANITY FAIR
Pauline Boty (1938 –1966) was a founding member of the British Pop Art movement and one of its very few women. She attended London’s Royal College of Art at a watershed moment when its students included David Hockney,Peter Blake, R.B. Kitaj and Allen Jones. Dying tragically young at the age of 28, she is now seen as central to British Pop Art and an icon of Sixties culture.
As well as her work as an artist, she appeared on the stage, TV and in film (including alongside Michael Caine in Alfie) and was a regular contributor on BBC radio. She was photographed by David Bailey and other society photographers and became a key player in 1960s London’s golden age.
Outspoken, provocative and charismatic, she refused to accept the oppositions between sexual woman and serious artist, between celebration and critique, between high and low culture. Observer and participant, feminist and hedonist, subject and object, Boty’s ‘double vision’ was decades ahead of its time, and prefigured a diversity of artists—everyone from Cindy Sherman to Madonna.
Having been largely forgotten after her death, her reputation has been growing steadily since the rediscovery and exhibition of her works in the early 1990s. As well as cropping up regularly in various books, documentaries and newspaper articles since then, she features as a central character in Ali Smith’s novel Autumn (2016) and one of her works sold for $1.4m at auction in June 2022.
After seeing her work at an auction in 2013, author Marc Kristal has spent almost ten years researching her life, interviewing the people who knew her and delving into archives and libraries. This is the definitive biography of her life and work, appealing to both those interested in art but in this creative period of British culture.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Frances Lincoln, 1st edition (19 Oct. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 256 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0711287546 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0711287549 |
| Dimensions | 19.5 x 2.5 x 25.5 cm |
by Phraser
As a long-term Pauline Boty fan I was delighted to see this new biography by Marc Kristal. He has clearly poured his heart and soul into this project and conducted the extensive research that this subject deserves. The result is that he gives us valuable new insights into her life and art, building on the recollections of contemporary friends, family members and the work of previous authors. For those who crave detail, you are very unlikely to be disappointed. The questions I had about Boty (some difficult!) are mainly answered. The quality of the illustrations appears to be good and there are some fabulous images (my favourite being one of a sullen PB wearing a James Wedge hat – sublime!). The book’s structure is, as expected and welcomed, primarily chronological. I personally struggled a little with the jumble of quotations, themes and thoughts amassed here. But that’s my problem and I wholeheartedly recommend this definitive study to any Pauline Boty fan or newly intrigued reader. Congratulations to Marc Kristal on an amazing achievement!
by carnolevy
At once a vivid collage of voices, an examination of an important artist now seen as central to British Pop Art, and a study of the life and times of Pauline Boty, this is a meticulously researched, eminently readable, and well-written biography. It looks at the role of Boty’s art and life and examines her position in the larger currents of Pop Art and feminism. A compelling work of many layers, truths and examinations, this is a gripping story about an important, colorful figure and a varied and vital life cut too short.
by Thomas Jerome Newton
Top of the package and book were sodden and water damaged
by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley
I discovered Pauline Bony through Ali Smith’s Autumn, in which Boty’s work is a focus of the text. I listened to Smith being interviewed on The Great Women Artist’s podcast and her delight in Boty’s work and its rediscovery led me to this book. Kristal has done a thorough job of tracking down as much information about Boty as possible and you get the impression that no stone has been left unturned. There are also good, colour images throughout the book of Boty’s works, which are very helpful. I learned a lot. I did struggle with some aspects of the book, perhaps because Boty died so early in her life and career that attempting to create a book about her whole life, when she didn’t have one, sometimes jars. I got the sense that there were times when the part has been made to stand in for the whole. It is clear to me that she was a woman way ahead of her time. It is such a shame that she never got to develop as a mature artist. I feel she could have been capable of truly great things based on what she left behind. It is great that a book about her is even a thing, given that she was forgotten for so long.
by Ms. Mary Fletcher
Lots of new info, author interviews many people who knew Pauline- lots of photos of her work.