"'I still believe that I have some mission in my life to say what I think about the world,' says American master Jack Levine. 'And let the avant-garde go hang.' A street-smart sage from the Boston slums with a formidable command of art history, this fascinating painter has always cut against the grain. In an age dominated by abstraction, Jack Levine has been one of the most powerful exponents of Social Realism and has remained committed to the great tradition of figurative art. Now, in a comprehensive monograph that contains splendid reproductions of almost all of Levine's paintings to date as well as drawings and studies, the artist himself examines his art and discusses his influences, from such old masters as Titian, Rembrandt, and Rubens to early modernists Rouault, Soutine, and Grosz. The result is a rare and revealing look at the creative process of a versatile and iconoclastic artist--and informative, yet informal, anecdotal tour through the work of six decades conducted by a witty and erudite guide, complied and edited by Stephen Robert Frankel. Since he first came to prominence in the 1930s with his brilliant and scathing painting The Feast of Pure Reason, Levine has consolidated his position as a powerful social commentator whose celebrated satirical narratives invite comparison with Goya and Daumier. But the acerbic painter of Gangster Funeral is also renowned for his dazzling portraits of the kings and sages of Israel, his sensuous nudes, and his vigorous reprises of classical themes. An illuminating critical appreciation by Milton W. Brown introduces the book, whose nearly 200 illustrations, including 60 plates in full color, admirably convey the full range of Jack Levine's artistry." -- Provided by publisher