Alma Mahler: or the Art of Being Loved
Biography Art History Music History Gender Studies Women's Studies 20th-Century European History Viennese Cultural History
Alma Mahler: or the Art of Being Loved is the 1991 Oxford University Press hardback that collectors prize for its compact 169-page yet sweeping portrait of Europe’s most magnetic muse. Françoise Giroud, one of France’s sharpest biographers, traces how a Viennese girl born Alma Schindler became the lover or wife to Gustav Mahler, Walter Gropius and Franz Werfel—and the confidante of Klimt, Kokoschka and Zemlinsky—without ever being reduced to any of them. The result is a brisk, highly readable narrative that treats Alma not as a footnote to genius but as a gifted, flawed artist of survival who re-wrote the rules for women negotiating fame, desire and their own creativity in the early 20th century.
This particular copy is especially appealing to readers who value provenance: a previous owner has inscribed the front fly-leaf and marked two poignant lines in the margin, quietly testifying to the book’s emotional impact. Otherwise the pages are crisp and un-creased, and the original dust-jacket, still bright after three decades, is protected by the sturdy navy cloth binding that Oxford reserved for its premium biographies. At just 374 g and 21.5 cm tall it slips easily into a handbag or display shelf, making it an ideal gift edition for Young Adult students discovering inter-war culture or adults who devour true stories of larger-than-life women.
Because the first edition in English is now scarce, owning this clean, jacketed copy secures both a scholarly source for Alma Mahler studies and a conversation piece on the art of being loved—and of loving fiercely in return.
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