Still Life with Remorse

From the critically acclaimed artist, designer, and author of the bestsellers The Principles of Uncertainty, My Favorite Things, and Women Holding Things comes a moving work of visual storytelling, a meditation in words and pictures on remorse, joy, ancestry, and memory. Maira Kalman's most autobiographical and intimate work to date, Still Life with Remorse is a beautiful, four-color collection and illustrated memoir combining deeply personal stories and 50 striking full-color paintings in the vein of her and Alex Kalman's acclaimed Women Holding Things. Tracing her family's story from her grandfather's birth in Belarus and emigration to Tel Aviv-where she was born-Maira considers her unique family history, illuminating the complex relationship between recollection, regret, happiness, and heritage. The vibrant original art accompanying these autobiographical pieces are mostly still lifes and interiors which serve as counterpoints to her powerful words. In addition to personal essays exploring her Israeli and Jewish roots, Kalman includes short stories about other great artists, writers, and composers, including Leo Tolstoy, Franz Kafka, Gustav Mahler, and Robert Schumann. Through these narratives, Kalman uses her signature wit and tenderness to reveal how family history plays an influential role in all of our work, lives, and perspectives. A feat of visual storytelling and vulnerability, Still Life with Remorse explores the profound hidden in the quotidian, and illuminates the powerful universal truths about art and memory in our most personal family stories.
Part family history, part artist's journal, this collection is a meditation on the fragments that make a life.

Maira Kalman illustrated William Strunk Jr's classic The Elements of Style and is the author of My Favorite Things, Principles of Uncertainty, and And the Pursuit of Happiness. She is also the author/illustrator of numerous children's books, and her artwork has graced a dozen covers of The New Yorker. Her watches, clocks, accessories, and paperweights have been featured at the Museum of Modern Art store. She lives in New York City. Learn more at mairakalman.com Alex Kalman is an artist, editor, designer, publisher, and curator, He is the founder of Mmuseumm and owner of What Studio? Learn more at alexkalman.com