Personal Feeling Is the Main Thing sees the acclaimed British artist
Chantal Joffe setting out on a journey with art historian Dorothy Price
in the footsteps of the pioneering German painter Paula Modersohn-Becker
(1876 - 1907), the first female artist to paint a naked self-portrait.
Returning to London, Joffe undertakes new paintings of her friends, the
novelist and writer Olivia Laing and art historian Gemma Blackshaw,
heavily pregnant.
Richly illustrated with works from throughout Joffe's career - depicting
her daughter Esme, friends, artists and writers - alongside works by
Modersohn-Becker and Polaroids by Joffe of the artist's home in
Worpswede, this book offers a rare window into Joffe's practice through
the prism of Modersohn-Becker, working a century earlier.
Revealing texts by Dorothy Price, Gemma Blackshaw and Olivia Laing
further illuminate the integrity, as well as the psychological and
emotional force Joffe brings to figurative painting. 'Though separated
in time and place, Modersohn-Becker's intensity of vision still speaks
directly to Chantal Joffe; both artists are invested in an unflinching
approach to their subject matter. They are at once fierce and tender in
their acuity.' - Dorothy Price
Personal Feeling Is the Main Thing is published by Elephant in
association with Victoria Miro Gallery.
