Anthony Quinn's Eye: A Lifetime of Creating and Collecting Art

As a successful actor, Anthony Quinn could easily have lived a life of mindless pleasure. This lavish record of his artistic endeavors shows he did just the opposite. Compiled largely by his second wife, Katherine, who wrote the foreword and some of the photo captions, the book shows the extensive collections Quinn built up over the years and gives an excellent overview of his own artwork. He had carvings from South Asia, a large collection of painted and carved eggs, and assorted ""found"" items such as giant old oxen yokes and interesting rocks or branches. Quinn was also a tireless painter and sculptor, constantly sketching while on sets or at home. Though Katherine was only with him toward the end of his career, she is clearly a knowledgeable guide to Quinn's world, and her insights into how he saw things are revealing. She explains, for example, why he shifted toward abstract sculpture while filming Lion of the Desert (in Libya, local law banned images of women in art). Her reminiscences are written in a conversational manner and give readers a sense of the actor's personality and interests, but unfortunately, few photographs receive more than a short caption. The other essays by Parini and Kuspit, which attempt to put Quinn's art in a broader theoretical framework, provide less insight into the man and are overly academic; most people will be much more drawn to the lovely photographs. Quinn was often typecast in Hollywood, and for many people he will always be Zorba the Greek, but this book demonstrates that he took advantage of his movies' successes to bring even more art into the world.