Author Description

Beginning with her mid-1920s childhood in Pennsylvania, this book explores the life and times of accomplished artist Shirley Goldfarb. Recollecting her birth to a family of Jewish shopkeepers, the account details the beginnings of her artistic career with studies of dramatic art and Jewish theology in 1940s New York. Her time with the Art Students League is documented along with the introduction of her husband, draftsman and engraver Gregory Masurovsky. Depicting the couple's move to Paris in 1954, the study follows them as they frequented the art and fashion design circles, the Montparnasse, the Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and more. Goldfarb's famous friendships are highlighted, from Sam Francis, David Hockney, and Joan Mitchell to Paul Jenkins, Yves Klein, Man Ray, and Andy Warhol. The artist's exhibitions are reviewed--including her 1956 show in the Paul Facchetti studio and 1962 presentation in the American Cultural Center of Paris--and her reflections from the 1970s are described, confronting her own thoughts on death amidst a personal battle with cancer. Demonstrating the strength and determination of a courageous artist, this biography reveals how writing and painting can become acts of resistance against the world as well as the means for survival.