WILLIAM N. COPLEY: SELECTED WRITINGS edited by Anhony Atlas (Walther König)

 

WILLIAM N. COPLEY: SELECTED WRITINGS edited by Anthony Atlas (Walther König) ISBN: 978-96098-776-5

I know the name of William N. Copley (1919-1996) as a gallerist in Los Angeles during the late 1940s who focused on Surrealist art. Copley Galleries were the first to focus on the paintings and sculptures of Man Ray and do the first Joseph Cornell exhibition in Los Angeles. Overall, as a business, the gallery was a failure. However, like a cat with nine-lives, Copley focused his life as a painter, but still drawn into the world of Surrealism. There is a cartoon quality to his visual work that reminds me of a colorful Krazy Kat comic strip but with a strong sense of eros. Philip Guston also comes to mind. "William N. Copley Selected Writings" is a collection of his texts. They are unique works, like his paintings, that fully express his 'fun' character.

The exceptional quality of Copley is his relationship with the old Surrealist guard. He was a younger man when he met Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Cornell, and Max Ernst. So, one can feel the generational difference between him and the others. Still, Copley has a wicked sense of humor that must have been a delight to the European artists. His 'American' quality to accept failure and move on is an excellent trait by Copley. As an anthology of one person's writing is all over the map, but his devotion to the world of Ernst and others never tired him. Reading this book, you get some stories over again, but the context is the key here. In a manner, Copley is an outsider. Adopted to a wealthy and influential family, he is the black sheep in the family structure. Yet, his outside view of the world is a tool for him being involved in the arts—both as an admirer or collector and artist. Copley didn't use art jargon in his essays. He's very much a journalist reporting on the facts that are in front of him. His reading audience is people who are not necessarily into the visual or literary arts. He wrote for publications such as The San Diego's Evening Tribune, Herald News from Illinois, etc. All small-time and neighborhood newspapers. His first-person accounts with Man Ray, Duchamp, and Cornell make this book a worthy read. A generous slice of cultural history as it happened. -Tosh Berman.