{"product_id":"seeing-baya-portrait-of-an-algerian-artist-in-paris-hardcover","title":"Seeing Baya: Portrait of an Algerian Artist in Paris - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eAlice Kaplan\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe first biography of the Algerian artist Baya Mahieddine, celebrated in mid-twentieth-century Paris, her life shrouded in myth. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e On a flower farm in colonial Algeria, a servant and field worker known as Baya escaped the drudgery of her labor by coloring the skirts in fashion magazines. Three years later, in November 1947, her paintings and fanciful clay beasts were featured in a solo show in Paris. She wasn't yet sixteen years old. In this first biography of Baya, Alice Kaplan tells the story of a young woman seemingly trapped in subsistence who becomes a sensation in the French capital, then mysteriously fades from the history of modern art--only to reemerge after independence as an icon of Algerian artistic heritage. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The toast of Paris for the 1947 season, Baya inspired colonialist fantasies about her \"primitive\" genius as well as genuine appreciation. She was featured in newspapers, on the radio, and in a newsreel; her art was praised by Breton and Camus, Marchand and Braque. At the dawn of Algerian liberation, her appearance in Paris was used to stage the illusion of French-Algerian friendship, while horrific French massacres in Algeria were still fresh in memory. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Kaplan uncovers the central figures in Baya's life and the role they played in her artistic career. Among the most poignant was Marguerite Caminat-McEwen-Benhoura, who took Baya from her sister's farm to Algiers, where Baya worked as Marguerite's maid and was given paint and brushes. A complex and endearing character, Marguerite--and her Pygmalion ambitions--was decisive in shaping Baya's destiny. Kaplan also looks closely at Baya's earliest paintings with an eye to their themes, their palette and design, and their enduring influence. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In vivid prose that brings Baya's story into the present, Kaplan's book, the fruit of scrupulous research in Algiers, Blida, Paris, and Provence, allows us to see in a whole new light the beloved artist who signed her paintings simply \"Baya.\"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlice Kaplan\u003c\/b\u003e is the Sterling Professor of French at Yale University. She is coauthor of \u003ci\u003eStates of Plague\u003c\/i\u003e, with Laura Marris, and author of \u003ci\u003eFrench Lessons, The Collaborator, Looking for \"The Stranger,\"\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eDreaming in French\u003c\/i\u003e, all also published by the University of Chicago Press. She has been a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the National Book Award. She lives in Guilford, Connecticut. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 176\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 9.1 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 15, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51763364921632,"sku":"9780226835082","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/ef8326591b0be3b6a06fe788bbca813f.webp?v=1780233317","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/seeing-baya-portrait-of-an-algerian-artist-in-paris-hardcover","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}