Product Description: He's been called a genius and a "world-class malcontent." R. Crumb, the visionary founder of the underground comics movement and unwilling hipster to multiple generations, celebrated for his viciously funny take on modern America, is also lauded as a draughtsman on par with Breughel. For the first time ever, his drawings of women are collected in one brilliantly offensive yet hilariously poignant volume, in chronological order, spanning the 38 years since his pen-and-ink beginnings. The usual fetishes are on display, natch--the built-from-the-ground-up body type, the lovingly fixated-upon solid thighs and buttocks--but so is Crumb's heart, on his sleeve, in the great tenderness with which he has rendered the women in his life. They're all here: his high-school crushes, his paramours, the girls and women who tormented him--and to whom he gave it right back--or who caught his eye on the street, and, of course, his wife and fiery sometime collaborator, Aline, and their daughter Sophie. Add to this his mistress of fifteen years, and you have not only a catalogue raisonna of Crumb's portraits of women but also a revealing record of a passionate life. Crumb calls it "an autobiography of sorts" and it is--these aren't just portraits of women but the most intimate portrait of Crumb's life in love.
Gotta get this one if you love Crumb's artwork and love or are a big-legged woman! Thank you, R. Crumb. It's a great feeling to know that if you knew me you would want to draw me and make me immortal in your wonderful art work!
I must mention before I forget -- I think it was here on Amazon.com that I read a review that said some of the art work in this book was pornographic. I have looked at every single page (and it is a fairly thick book -- much thicker than I expected) and I did not see even one drawing that could be called pornographic. "Soft porn" at the MOST -- and even then I don't think it calls for the word porn unless you are so Puritanistic that you think women's bare nipples or hot pants are obscene. In that case you wouldn't be a lover of Crumb's art work anyhow, right?
I don't like to spend this much on a book but something told me I had to have it, and I am not disappointed in the least! I'm going to make it my coffee table book. It's just big enough to work well for that.
I also enjoyed some of the handwritten words that were included in the book. There is a full page hand-printed introduction by R. Crumb talking about women which is very informative and interesting, and then on some of the drawings -- many of them -- he will put little comic-style clouds around words to let you know something the person was saying while he was drawing -- or what he imagined them thinking or saying.
Absolutely DELIGHTFUL book. Encore, Encore!!
Only for the TRUE R. Crumb fan This hardcover book is really only for the true R. Crumb collector. Not a book for the comic fan. An art student may find it interesting. I recommend The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book (Hardcover) for anyone interested in Robert Crumb's work.
Nice Crumb Overview For those new to the work of R. Crumb or those who want a compilation of "women" drawings this is a nice book. Great productions values: the cover, endpapers, binding, paper stock are all first class. The reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because there is very little work from recent years. I counted 6 drawings from 2002, 5 drawings from 2001, and only 2 from 2000. (There are no drawings from 2003). Most of the material is from the 1980's. I would have liked a more even sampling of material throughout the years and would have really been interested to see what new and recent work (if any) he's been doing on the subject of women. If you have the Crumb german sketchbooks, or are collecting the Fantagraphics sketchbooks then there's really no need for this. This is a good "general interest" Crumb collection.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
