Nobody writes letters anymore. It’s sad. This book is an ode to the handwritten (and hand drawn) letter from the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art. The letters are from famous artists to wives, lovers, friends, or clients. Each one has a little illustration to accompany the message. The illustrations could be anything- Calder draws a very graphic instructional map to Ben Shahn of how to get to his house for a visit, Frida Kahlo puts three kiss marks at the bottom of a letter to Emma Lou Packard, Andy Warhol draws a little smiling character at the top of his letter to an editor at Harper’s. It’s enjoyable to read these letters and get a taste of the artist’s personality. It’s also good to see what the artist draws when they aren’t trying to make a work of art. I remember as a tween and teen decorating all the letters I sent with 3-d lettering and lots of swirly things on the envelopes, or drawing little caricatures of people with word bubbles and writing guess who? to give my reader a laugh. Oh the good ole’ days. Pick up a copy of this book here.

ps. the photos below are letters from Howard Finster, Philip Guston, Alexander Calder and Yves Saint Laurent

© Julia Rothman 2007