Gluck: Her Biography

Description

As stubborn as she was gifted, as fierce as she was tender, and notorious for her mannish dress that was provocative and chic in equal measure, Gluck was an artist and a rebel. Born Hannah Gluckstein in 1895 into the family that founded the J. Lyons & Co. catering company, she had passionate affairs with society women such as Constance Spry and exhibited her portraits, flower paintings and landscapes in 'one man' shows that captivated the beau monde of the 1920s and 30s. But Gluck's success was never unmixed with controversy: at the height of her fame she stopped working, caught in a bitter campaign over the quality of artists' materials, and her personal life was rarely less than torrid. In Gluck Diana Souhami captures this paradoxical, talented and unusual woman in all her complexity.

Diana Souhami is the author of Selkirk's Island (winner of the Whitbread Biography award), The Trials of Radclyffe Hall (shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize for Biography and winner of the US Lambda Literary Award), the bestselling Mrs Keppel and Her Daughter (also winner of the Lambda Literary Award and a New York Times 'Notable Book of the Year'). Her latest book is Murder at Wrotham Hill. She lives in London and Devon.

'Diana Souhami has written a fascinating and well-researched book about this remarkable woman and important artist, who dressed as a man and painted in her own unique style. She has caught Gluck's mania for excellence and the passion she spent on her lovers' Mary Wesley, Daily Telegraph. * Daily Telegraph * 'A quiet triumph' Publishing News, Book of the Year. * Publishing News *