Venice
City
That Paints Itself
A unique look at one of the world’s best loved and most
beautiful cities. Paintings by Lewis Zacks and poems by Fran Castan
were made on site – in the squares, on the bridges, beside
the canals.
Describing those waterways, Castan says, “Canals are not
only boulevards and back-streets, but tributaries of light that
dazzle each façade and project images on interior walls,
like a moving picture show. Venetian light – constantly
swimming and resurfacing – prompted us to see everything
it touched as a canvas and led to the title, ‘City That
Paints Itself.’ Venice is the muse that has inspired artists,
writers and composers for more than a thousand years. Listening
to a piano concerto in Robert Browning’s palazzo, I imagined
him there, writing the poems that changed my life. At La Pietá,
I heard The Four Seasons played on the same instruments used 300
years ago when Vivaldi himself conducted.”
Lewis Zacks admits, “Setting out to paint in Venice can
be daunting. You can’t help feeling humbled as well as inspired,
thinking of all the artists who came before you. Everywhere you
look – every bridge, every palazzo, every church –
is so beautiful and has, over the centuries, been the subject
of a famous painting. Two favorites are Monet’s painting
of the magnificent Santa Maria della Salute and John Singer Sargent’s
painting of the same church from the identical location. I made
it my goal to find the exact spot both men found – a private
dock across the Grand Canal. I knocked on the door of the palazzo
that led to it and asked the owner for permission to paint. I
couldn’t believe my good fortune – to be standing
where two masters had worked and to feel their guidance toward
my version of the landmark. I felt I didn’t need many details,
just a silhouette and the absolutely beautiful afternoon light
of Venice, when the sky seems to be almost gold.”
About the Artist and Poet
The dazzling result – Zacks’ painting of “Salute”
– became the cover art and is one of the more unusual images
of the famous site because of its colors and remarkable depiction
of light and shadow. Zacks, a master colorist, was a book illustrator
when he first graduated from art school and has more than three
dozen titles to his credit, for such publishers as Lippincott,
Putnam, Prentice-Hall, Watts, Norton, Silver Burdett and Knopf.
Fran Castan, his wife, is author of The Widow’s Quilt,
a poetry collection introduced by the late William Matthews. She
received the Lucille Medwick Award from The Poetry Society of
America as well as nine Pushcart Prize nominations. Her work has
appeared in such journals as Poetry, Ms. Magazine,
Confrontation and The Paterson Literary Review.
The Seasons of Women (Norton), From Both Sides Now:
Poetry of the War in Vietnam... (Scribner) and On Prejudice:
A Global Perspective (Doubleday) are among the dozens of
anthologies including her work. Other publishers of anthologies
which feature her poems are Greenwillow, Andrews McMeel, N.Y.U.
Press and Fawcett/Columbine. Castan taught writing and literature
at The School of Visual Arts for 25 years, after working as a
magazine writer and editor and a producer of films and other educational
materials. Her freelance writing has appeared in The New York
Times and on WNET (Channel 13).
Advance Praise for Venice: City
That Paints Itself
“This is truly a city that paints itself – with a
little help from its friends. When this gorgeous book reaches
its audience, cities everywhere will be demanding equal time –
Paris, Prague, Sydney, Katmandu. This team of artists has its
work cut out for it.”
00000– Philip Appleman, Poet
000000Distinguished Professor Emeritus,
Indiana University
000000Editor of Darwin,
The Norton Critical Edition
“...Fran Castan and Lewis Zacks respond to Venice’s
sensual qualities in ways that seem both personal and universal.
It’s a special delight to observe how Zacks distills the
city’s architectural contours and watery reflections and
then transforms them into wonderfully resonating images.”
00000 – Phyllis Braff, Art
Critic
0000000Co-President, U.S. Section
of The International Art Critics Assoc.
0000000Served as an art critic for
The New York Times for several decades.
“This beautiful distillation of Venice in Word and Image
lovingly embodies Aristotle’s association of Poetry and
Painting....Together Castan and Zacks put the exquisite experience
of Venice in our hands.”
00000– Diana Gisolfi, Art Historian
0000011Professor, Pratt Institute
“This little hymnal, composed of paintings and poems, sheds
radiance over the stones of Venice.”
00000– Harvey Shapiro, Poet
1111111Retired Editor of The
New York Times Book Review
To Order Individual Copies and
for Distribution
Email: franny2301@gmail.com
ISBN 978-1-886435-17-9 (Hardback, Signed Limited Edition, Full
Color) Price: $50.00
ISBN 978-1-886435-18-6 (Paperback, Full Color) $30.00
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CONTROL #: 2010 90 7393
FORMAT: 81⁄2 x 11 inches; 48 pages; Full Color
DESIGN: Steven Stinehour
COVER ART: Lewis Zacks
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