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From
the Postscript by Christopher
Sawyer-Lauçanno:
Beadle
is the real deal. And Rob Couteau is the
real deal too. Without his desire to rescue
Dark Refuge from oblivion, we would
all have missed out on a tremendous
modernist novel that should rank among other
classics such as Tropic of Cancer,
Nightwood, Nadja, Ulysses, To the
Lighthouse, and, of course, Naked
Lunch. And thanks to his extensive
annotations and deep research, we have both
the novel and the context that created it. I
am admiring and grateful.
Diane
Donovan, Senior Editor, Midwest Book
Review:
Dark
Refuge appears in
print for the first time since its original
publication in 1938, presenting a world
traveler’s experiences with bohemian life in
Paris in a novel that also serves (thanks to
Rob Couteau) as a biography of Beadle’s
life.
Extensive
annotated references link Beadle’s
experiences to his fictional
representations, offering a literary
backdrop for understanding both the
atmosphere and progression of his fiction
and its roots in reality.
Readers
should be prepared for a sexual romp that is
ribald, explicit, and thoroughly steeped in
Beadle’s personal experiences of the times.
Beadle’s language is evocative, poetic, and
dramatic: ‘I simply slip through the other
room of the café and out into the other
boulevard, laughing to twist my guts. Nobody
knows that I have a rendezvous. The coat and
hat annoy me. How silly! I throw them away
as I run, for I know it is late and I’m
frightened that my beloved will not wait.
God is crying harder than ever, and I suck
in his tears. How funny it must be to weep!’
Whether
exploring drug experiments and the
revelations that follow them or descending
into the sordid and colorful world of
bohemian Paris, Beadle flavors all of his
impressions with the same attention to
flowery detail that makes his writing so
time-less: ‘Inexorably I was borne along up
this staircase of Time as an express lift
passes floors, glimpsing worlds where the
highest form of life was apes chattering
futilely in leagues of simian nations of
their own; where vast beasts resembling
tanks plunged through swamp and over
prairie; where the sky was of steam and gas,
and volcanoes burst like firecrackers on a
Chinese New Year amid a seething sea; and on
and on until there were no more worlds and
naught seemingly but incandescent void.’
Pair
this with the extensive notes and annotated
references Couteau injects to not just
explain but expand the story, for a sense of
the unique literary and historical
importance of this reappearance of Beadle’s
rare classic, which has been out of print
for far too long.
Libraries
seeking literary representations of the
marriage between fiction and nonfiction will
find Dark Refuge a fine example.
The 200+ annotated notes come from
previously unpublished letters and
documents, combining with photos and
historical reviews to represent a hallmark
of not only literary fiction, but
biographical research.
Dark
Refuge deserves a place in any library
strong in works of literature that represent
the intersection between fictional devices
and biographical inspection, whether or not
there is prior knowledge of or interest in
Beadle’s works and importance.
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978-1-7360049-3-7. For more
information contact dominantstarllc@gmail.com

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"A
Blind Man Crazy for Color: A Strange
Tale from the Annals of Art Collecting."
Book review by Scott Winfield Sublett, New
Art Examiner, July / August 2022:
In
Paris of the 1910s, when hungry artists
would take almost any pittance for their
work, an old man of extremely limited
means scooped up Picassos, Modiglianis,
Utrillos, Matisses and Cezannes, each
painting bought for the price of a
couple of good restaurant meals. The
prescient old man’s collection would,
today, be worth hundreds of millions, if
not billions, and one might say the old
man had a superlative eye, were he not
blind.
In his
strange, fascinating new book, A
Blind Man Crazy for Color,
writer-painter Rob Couteau assembles and
unearths what little can be known about
the mysterious collector Léon Angély, a
bald, fat, retired solicitor’s clerk who
gambled what small money he had on the
dream of assembling a collection that
could someday finance a luxurious
retirement in Nice.
When
Père Angély started collecting, he was
already myopic but could still see. Over
a period of about 20 years, though, his
vision disappeared. “I have only one
fan, and he’s blind,” Modigliani is
quoted as saying. (In the book’s
footnotes there’s another lovely
Modigliani quotation: “I do at least
three paintings a day in my head. What’s
the use of spoiling canvas when nobody
will buy?”) Rather than let blindness
end his Sunday afternoon visits to
studios, Angély continued collecting
with the help of a poor, unschooled
young girl, on whose shoulder his hand
rested as they made their way through
Montmartre. Little Joséphine would
describe the paintings, and on the basis
of her simple descriptions, he would
choose. Figures as distinctive as Léon
and Joséphine were certainly noticed.
Couteau quotes John Richardson’s A Life
of Picasso as asserting that the painter
was fascinated by the old, blind
collector, and Richardson goes on to
speculate, quite plausibly, “Picasso may
have drawn on his memory of the
sightless art lover and his child guide
when in 1934 he depicted a blind
Minotaur being led around by a little
girl.” It’s likely Léon and Joséphine
were beloved Montmartre characters,
despite the old man’s tightness with a
franc. Adding another layer of resonance
to Couteau’s slim volume are the
charming illustrations by Lydia Corbett,
also known as Sylvette David, the
pony-tailed model and muse who inspired
Picasso’s Sylvette Period (and whose
hairstyle was copied by Bridgette
Bardot). Now 87 and living in Devon,
Sylvette had a show seven years ago at
London’s Francis Kyle Gallery. It may
seem tragic that Angély died in 1921,
before the artists he discovered
skyrocketed in value. To keep body and
soul together in inflation-racked
post-World War I Paris, he disposed of
his collection for little more than he
had paid. Still, for decades he had the
aesthetic thrill of some of art
history’s greatest accomplishments
covering his shabby garret walls, and
for some of that time, he could see
them.
Diane
Donovan, Senior Editor, Midwest
Book Review (May 2022):
A
Blind Man Crazy for Color: A
Tribute to Léon Angély
documents an early 20th century
retired clerk who collected art by
Picasso, Modigliani, and Utrillo
before these artists were famous.
Despite his failing vision, Léon
Angély could see the promise of
these artists before those around
him acknowledged their talents. He
employed a young girl to help him
make his selections when his sight
no longer permitted him to
personally enjoy them.
The
book is illustrated with original
artwork by Picasso's model and muse,
Sylvette David, who posed for the
painter in 1954 when she was only
nineteen years old. Her black and white
and color sketches accent this colorful
portrait of Léon's life, motivations,
involvement in the art world, and the
pieces he collected. Previously
unpublished information about the blind
man's passion and his influence on the
art world enhances a survey that should
be required reading and acquisition for
any serious art history student and the
libraries catering to them.
The
well-researched treatise is supported by
documentation that ranges from birth and
death certificates to Rob
Couteau's personal research into
Sylvette David who, at eighty-seven,
adds her memories to the story to expand
reader insights about both Picasso and
David's life and their art involvements.
Readers
also receive revealing inspections of
the process of interviewing artists and
capturing their historical and artistic
impact, adding to A Blind Man Crazy
for Color's importance as a
survey that goes beyond a singular
biography of an art enthusiast to delve
into the world of artists, art
appreciation, and muses. The blend of
all these elements demonstrates the
interlinked potentials and importance of
artists, muses, and those who
appreciate, purchase, and analyze their
work:
"Although
he died impoverished and nearly
forgotten, and although the identity of
his youthful guide is still enshrouded
in mystery, le Père Angély helped to
preserve what Richardson calls the
“sacred stuff of art” – regardless of
whether his motivation was merely
pecuniary. Léon and Joséphine may also
have inspired the greatest artist of the
twentieth century."
Serious
art libraries should consider this
extraordinary recreation of artistic
ambitions against all odds a mainstay
that stands out in many different
ways.
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978-1-7360049-9-9. For more
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