Art News:
Good afternoon!
Jean Hélion was more than an artist. Beginning his adult life as a French solider and labor camp prisoner, he later became a respected modern artist in New York City.
Now, Arcade Publishing bring you his striking biography,They Shall Not Have Me (Arcade Publishing, June 2012), a complete account of his riveting, dangerous life. Brave and defiant as he was, Hélion used his art expression as means to preserve the treachery of his past. His paintings have become a self-portrait of the artist as a man. Hélion's work is still displayed worldwide, most recently, at Schroeder Romero & Shredder in Manhattan.
Please see the press release below and contact me for a review copy!
Thank you.
Karissa
CONTACT: Karissa Hearn
khearn@skyhorsepublishing.com
by
serving the enemy he stayed alive; with unbreakable loyalty to his people, he
made it home;
through
his art, he tells his story
They Shall Not Have Me
The
Capture, Forced Labor, and Escape of a French Prisoner in World War II
By Jean Hélion
Introduction by Deborah
M. Rosenthal
Afterword by Jacqueline Hélion
One of the most sensational escapes
from the Nazis in World War II.
TIME
Hélions [story] is both terrifying and
funny, somewhat in the vein of
Tarantinos film Inglorious Basterds
a one-of-a-kind classic.
The French painter Jean Hélions unique and deeply moving account of his experiences
in Nazi prisoner-of-war camps prefigures the even darker stories that would
emerge from the concentration camps. They Shall Not Have Me (Arcade
Publishing, June 2012) is a serious adventure tale that begins with Hélions infantry platoon fleeing from
the German army and warplanes. As they advance through France in the early
days of the war, the soldiers chant as they march, They shall not have me! The platoon is quickly captured and is forced
into harsh labor camps.
Writing in English in 1943, after his
risky escape to freedom in the United States, Hélion vividly depicts the sights, sounds, and smells of the camps,
and shrewdly sizes up both captors and captured.
In the deep humanity, humor, and
unsentimental intelligence of his observations, we can recognize the artist
whose long career included friendships with the likes of Mondrian, Giacometti,
and Balthus, as well as Hélions
undeniably large contributions to modern art movements. They Shall Not Have Me is
a self-portrait of the artist as a mana
moving and engrossing symbol of resilience and integrity, and a daring story of
imprisonment and escape under the Nazi regime.
About the Author
Jean Hélion was a noted French modernist painter and
author. His work later influenced such painters as Nell Blaine and Leland
Bellit can be seen at the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago,
and the Tate Gallery in London. He died
in 1987.
Jacqueline Hélion is the widow of the painter.
Deborah M. Rosenthal is consulting editor for the
series. She is a painter who has shown
in New York and nationally during the past twenty-five years. For her writing on art in many art journals,
including Art in America and Modern Painters, she won an NEA Critics
Grant. She is a professor of fine arts
at the School of Fine and Performing Arts at Rider University.
They
Shall Not Have Me
The
Capture, Forced Labor, and Escape of a French Prisoner in World War II
By Jean
Hélion
Arcade Publishing Hardcover
An imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
On Sale: June 2012
ISBN: 978-1-61145-501-4
Price: $24.95
Arcade Publishing,
an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
307
West 36th Street, 11th Floor
New
York, NY 10018
212
643 6816
www.arcadepub.com
