The travel albums of photographer George Platt Lynes, publisher Monroe Wheeler, and writer Glenway Wescott are illuminating documents of the American expatriate years. Together, this extraordinary menage a trois spent the heady inter-war period frequenting Paris, Villefranche-sur-Mer, and other European cities, meeting up with such lively personalities as Thornton Wilder, Jean Cocteau, Katherine Anne Porter, Man Ray, Rene Crevel, and Christian Berard. Inspired by the encouragement of Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, and Jane Heap, all three men went on to pursue vibrant careers in the arts. Platt Lynes became a celebrated photographer in 1931; Wheeler, with Wescott's sister-in-law, Barbara Harrison, started the extraordinary little press Harrison of Paris in 1930; and Wescott became a best-selling fiction writer in 1927. The photographs represented here date from the three-some's first meeting, and underscore the intimate bond they shared. It is a story of youthful passion and enthusiasm that speaks to the enduring ties that held these three talented men together throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
Language
English
Pages
299
Format
Hardcover
Publisher
Arena Editions
Release
November 01, 1998
ISBN
0965728048
ISBN 13
9780965728041
When We Were Three: The Travel Albums of George Platt Lynes, Monroe Wheller, and Glenway Wescott 1925-1935
The travel albums of photographer George Platt Lynes, publisher Monroe Wheeler, and writer Glenway Wescott are illuminating documents of the American expatriate years. Together, this extraordinary menage a trois spent the heady inter-war period frequenting Paris, Villefranche-sur-Mer, and other European cities, meeting up with such lively personalities as Thornton Wilder, Jean Cocteau, Katherine Anne Porter, Man Ray, Rene Crevel, and Christian Berard. Inspired by the encouragement of Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, and Jane Heap, all three men went on to pursue vibrant careers in the arts. Platt Lynes became a celebrated photographer in 1931; Wheeler, with Wescott's sister-in-law, Barbara Harrison, started the extraordinary little press Harrison of Paris in 1930; and Wescott became a best-selling fiction writer in 1927. The photographs represented here date from the three-some's first meeting, and underscore the intimate bond they shared. It is a story of youthful passion and enthusiasm that speaks to the enduring ties that held these three talented men together throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.