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Manny Farber

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Manny Farber
Born
Emanuel Farber

(1917-02-20)February 20, 1917
Douglas, Arizona,U.S.
DiedAugust 18, 2008(2008-08-18)(aged 91)
Leucadia, Encinitas, California,U.S.
Occupations
  • Painter
  • film critic
Spouses
  • Patricia Patterson (1976–2008)
  • Marsha Picker (1950-1965)
  • Janet Terrace (1938-1946)

Emanuel Farber(February 20, 1917 – August 18, 2008) was an American painter, film critic and writer. Often described as "iconoclastic",[1][2][3]Farber developed a distinctive prose style[1]and set of theoretical stances which have had a large influence on later generations of film critics and influence onunderground culture.[1]Susan Sontagconsidered him to be "the liveliest, smartest, most original film critic this country has ever produced."[4]

Farber's writing was distinguished by its "visceral," punchy style[1]and inventive approach towards language;[5]amongst other things, he is credited with coining the term "underground film"in 1957,[1]and was an early advocate of such filmmakers asHoward Hawks,Rainer Werner Fassbinder,Werner Herzog,William Wellman,Raoul Walsh,Anthony Mann,Michael Snow,Chantal Akerman,George Kuchar,Nicolas Roeg,Samuel FullerandAndy Warhol.[6]

Farber's painting, which was often influenced by his favorite filmmakers,[1]is held in equally high regard; he was dubbed the greateststill lifepainter of his generation byThe New York Times.[1]

Early life[edit]

Emanuel Farber was born inDouglas, Arizona,where his father, fromVilna, Lithuania,[7]owned a dry goods store,[8]as the youngest of three brothers. His two older siblings, David andLeslie H. Farber,both becamepsychiatrists.[6][1]

After Farber's family moved toVallejo, Californiain 1932, Faber enrolled atUC Berkeleyfor his first-year, before transferring toStanford University.While at Berkeley, he covered sports atThe Daily Californian.[9]At Stanford, he began taking drawing classes.[9]He later enrolled at theCalifornia School of Fine Arts,[8]and then to theRudolph Schaeffer School of Design,both located in San Francisco.

Career[edit]

In the early 1930s, Farber worked as a painter and carpenter, inSan Francisco.During this time, he attempted to join theCommunist Party,though later in his life Farber was often critical of post-New Dealliberal politics.[6]

In 1939, Farber moved toWashington DCwith his first wife, Janet Terrace.[8]

Farber, for decades, while also writing and painting, supported himself, as a carpenter, as a member of theBrotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners,working on big construction jobs on the East Coast, eventually quitting because it interfered with painting.[9]

His journalistic career began as an art critic, and in 1942[10]he moved toNew York City.Inspired byOtis Ferguson's writings,[9]Farber took a post as a film and art critic forThe New Republic(early 1940s through late 1940s[9]). This was followed by stints atTime(1949),The Nation(1949–1954),New Leader(1958–59),Cavalier(1966)[11]andArtforum(1967–71). He has also contributed toCommentary,[12]Film Culture,Film Comment,andFrancis Ford Coppola'sCity Magazine.

In 1970, Farber leftNew York Cityto teach and to join the faculty of department of visual arts at theUniversity of California, San Diego.[13]Reportedly, Farber traded hisManhattanloftto artistDon Lewallenin exchange for Lewallen's teaching position at UCSD after the two met at a party.[6]Once in San Diego, he focused on painting and teaching. During his time at UCSD, his faculty colleaguesNewton Harrison,Harold Cohen,Amy Goldin,andDavid Antin.

All of his film criticism from 1975,[14]until the last published piece in 1977, was co-signed by his wife, Patricia Patterson, and their work has been published primarily inCity Magazine[14]andFilm Comment.[15][11]

Originally an art professor only, Farber was approached about teaching a film class because of his background as a critic. He taught several courses, including "History of Film" and "Films in Social Context," which became famous for his unusual teaching style: he usually showed films only in disconnected pieces, sometimes running them backwards or adding in slides and sketches on the blackboard to illustrate his ideas.[6]His exams had a reputation for being demanding and complicated, and occasionally required students to drawstoryboardsof scenes from memory.[6]

Style[edit]

"Manny Farber is theRaymond Chandlerof American film criticism. "[10]

"Farber’s style was drolly impatient, culturally far-reaching, and addictively conversational. In it, the reader sensed a mind that loved film-going enough to hold filmmakers accountable for their efforts with the same elevated combination of annoyance and appreciation formerly only accorded to playwrights, classical and jazz musicians, and fine artists."[9]

Farber's writing is well known for its distinctive prose style,[1]which he personally described as "a struggle to remain faithful to the transitory, multisuggestive complication of a movie image."[6]He cited thesportswritersof his era as an influence, and frequently used sports metaphors, especially ones related tobaseball,in his writings on art and cinema.[6]

Farber frequently championed genre filmmakers likeHoward Hawks,Anthony MannandRaoul Walsh;however, despite his fondness for B-films, Farber was often critical offilm noir.[6]

"White Elephant Art vs. Termite Art"[edit]

One of Farber's best-known essays is "White Elephant Art vs. Termite Art",[16]which originally appeared inFilm Culture,number 27 (Winter 1962-63).[11]In it, he writes on the virtues[17]of "termite art" and the excesses of "white elephant art" and champions theB filmand under-appreciatedauteurs,which he felt were able, termite-like, to burrow into a topic. Bloated, pretentious, white elephant art lacks the economy of expression found in the greatest works of termite art, according to Farber. Farber saw termite art as spontaneous and subversive, going in bold new directions, and white elephant art as formal and tradition-bound. He offersJohn Wayne's performance inThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valanceas a quintessential example of cinematic termite art, but scorns the films ofTruffautandAntonioni.

"Termite-tapeworm-fungus-moss art," Farber contends, "goes always forward eating its own boundaries, and, like as not, leaves nothing in its path other than the signs of eager, industrious, unkempt activity."[18]

Personal life[edit]

Farber met his third wife,[8]Patricia Patterson, in New York, in 1966, where Farber had lived since 1942, when he began writing about movies.

Farber retired from teaching in 1987, at age 70. Towards the end of his life, he found it difficult to paint, and instead focused oncollagesanddrawings;his final exhibition of new work occurred just a month before his death.

He died at his home inLeucadia, Encinitas, California,on August 18, 2008.[1]He was survived by Patterson, a daughter from a previous marriage, and a grandson.[19]

"...Manny, who has died aged 91, was tall, lanky and comic looking. He might have played Popeye, or one of those old-timers in theAnthony Mannwesterns he cherished. He wore jeans and plaid shirts and the hair had gone back from his great dome of a forehead by the time I met him. "[19]

Reputation and influence[edit]

"Pauline Kael.. the best movie critic in America. I also respectAndrew Sarris,Manny Farber,Dwight MacDonaldandStephen Farber."[20]—Roger Ebert[21]

Farber is frequently named as one of the greatestfilm critics,and his work has had a lasting impact on the generations of critics that followed him.[6]

An appearance by Manny Farber at theSan Francisco Film Festivalis shown in the documentary,For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism,in which he is called "criticism's supreme stylist" and his unusual use of language is discussed byThe NationcriticStuart Klawans.

Works[edit]

  • Farber, Manny (February 2, 2016).Farber on Film: The Complete Film Writings of Manny Farber: A Library of America Special Publication.Library of America.ISBN978-1-59853-470-2.[22][23]
  • Farber, Manny (2003).Manny Farber: About Face.Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.ISBN978-0-934418-63-8.
  • Farber, Manny (1998).Negative Space: Manny Farber on the Movies, Expanded Edition.New York: Da Capo Press.ISBN0-306-80829-3.
Originally released byPraeger Publishersin 1971.

Awards[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Tributes[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdefghijGrimes, William (August 19, 2008).Manny Farber, Iconoclastic Film Critic and Artist, Dies at 91.New York Times
  2. ^Kiderra, Inga (August 21, 2008).Obituary: Artist and Critic Manny Farber, 91.UCSanDiego NewsCenter
  3. ^Issue 40 Editorial.ArchivedJuly 11, 2011, at theWayback MachineFramework
  4. ^Manny Farber, 1917 - 2008.ArchivedJuly 18, 2009, at theWayback MachineGreenCine Daily.
  5. ^Hoberman, J.Manny Farber 1917-2008.Village Voice
  6. ^abcdefghijPolito, Robert. "Other Roads, Other Tracks" Introduction.Farber on Film: The Complete Film Writings of Manny Farber.New York: Library of America, 2009. Xv-Xxxviii.
  7. ^Corliss, Richard(August 26, 2008)."Manny Farber: Termite of Genius".Time.com.RetrievedOctober 20,2023.
  8. ^abcdHornaday, Ann (August 21, 2008)."Film critic, painter Manny Farber dies".Monterey Herald.Washington Post.RetrievedOctober 20,2023.
  9. ^abcdefBennett, Bruce (August 19, 2008)."Manny Farber, 91, 'Eccentric' Film Critic".The New York Sun.RetrievedOctober 20,2023.
  10. ^abFlood, Richard (September 1, 1998)."Manny Farber".Artforum.RetrievedOctober 19,2023.Manny Farber is the Raymond Chandler of American film criticism.
  11. ^abcdShepherd, Duncan (May 25, 2006)."Debt: You can't very well look a man in the eye on a daily basis when you're stealing from him".San Diego Reader.Archived fromthe originalon June 17, 2006.RetrievedOctober 20,2023.
  12. ^abMagid, Marion (March 1, 1964)."Auteur! Auteur!".Commentary Magazine.RetrievedOctober 20,2023.
  13. ^Pincus, Robert L. (October 4, 2009)."Manny Farber: critic 'who opened other critics' eyes'".San Diego Union-Tribune.RetrievedOctober 20,2023.
  14. ^ab"Manny Farber".visarts.ucsd.edu.RetrievedOctober 20,2023.
  15. ^Hudson, David (November 20, 2019)."Manny Farber, Critic and Painter".THE DAILY.Criterion Collection.RetrievedOctober 19,2023.
  16. ^
  17. ^
  18. ^Farber, Manny (1998).Negative Space: Manny Farber on the Movies(Expanded ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. p. 135.ISBN0-306-80829-3.OCLC38311966.
  19. ^abThomson, David (August 24, 2008)."Manny Farber".The Guardian.RetrievedOctober 20,2023.
  20. ^Jones, Adam."Stephen Farber".lafca.net Los Angeles Film Critics Association.RetrievedOctober 20,2023.
  21. ^Ebert, Roger(April 2, 1972)."Five years of criticism".Roger Ebert.com.RetrievedOctober 20,2023.
  22. ^Shepherd, Duncan (October 21, 2009)."All Together Now".San Diego Reader.RetrievedOctober 20,2023.
  23. ^Ivry, Benjamin (October 7, 2009)."Loving and Loathing".The Forward.RetrievedOctober 20,2023.
  24. ^abcd"Manny Farber".Artnet.RetrievedOctober 20,2023.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manny_Farber&oldid=1189833610"