Body language

Body Language is about modern art and a primary subject of all art -- the human face and the human body, their infinite variety of gesture and expression. Published to accompany a section of the fall centennial exhibitions (October 7 through February 1, 2000) at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. The book is organized in five sections: Faces, gestures, postures, Pairs, groups. More than 100 images are reproduced, drawn from all of the Museum's collections, most from the period 1880-1920, but with more recent examples which amplify the themes presented. The selection is eclectic and provocative. In addition to the introductory essay, short commentaries appear with paired pictures throughout the book -- Toulouse-Lautrec with Garry Winogrand, Dorothea Lange with Kathe Kollwitz, Lewis Carroll with Balthus -- suggesting unexpected relationships and ways of looking at these compelling images.