Judith Dupré

Judith Dupré
Born Providence, Rhode Island
Nationality American
Occupation Author
Website
Judith Dupré

Judith Dupré (born in Providence, Rhode Island)[1] is a writer and public speaker. She is the author of several works of narrative nonfiction that explore the intersection of art, photography, and architecture. She has been described as “a scholar with a novelist’s eye for detail and a journalist’s easy style.” [2]

The unusual shapes and bindings of her books echo their subject matter,[3] and suggest the tradition and material presence of the illuminated book.[4] Skyscrapers is 18” high.[5] Bridges is a yard wide when open, to accommodate panoramic photos of the longest structures.[6] The cover of Churches is split down the center so that it opens like the doors of a cathedral.[7] The cover of Monuments: America’s History in Art and Memory is a replica, in raised relief, of ancient stones; its deeply incised title lettering was drawn for the book by Nicholas Benson.[2]

Each page design includes deep-captioned photographs, floating quotations, and sidebar explorations.[8] The page layouts suggest a kinetic reading experience beyond the turning of successive pages, and have been designed to create individualized reading experiences, where the reader chooses how to engage the array of photographs, essays and marginal commentaries.[9]

Dupré was born into a family of architectural preservationists.[3] She received her undergraduate degree from Brown University in 1978 and did postgraduate work at Hunter College and the Open Atelier of Design and Architecture, both in New York City.[1] In 2005, she matriculated at Yale Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. She has curated and consulted on numerous contemporary art exhibitions, including an installation of temporary refugee housing on Sterling Quad at Yale Divinity School in 2007.[10] From 1979 through 1990,[11] she curated the Harry N. Abrams Art Collection, an important collection of pop art assembled by the art book publisher Harry Abrams.

Publications

Dupré's major works include:

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Brief autobiography at judithdupre.com
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Strauss, Barry. “Carved in Stone: On Monuments: America's History in Art and Memory by Judith Dupré,” The New Criterion, vol. 26, March, 2008, 69.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gonzalez, Susan. “Divinity Student’s Books Pay Homage to Architectural Marvels” Yale Bulletin & Calendar 36:27, April 25, 2008, 6.
  4. ↑ Frederick M. Winship, "Churches Architecture is Subject of New Books," United Press International, October 18, 2001.
  5. ↑ Lucie Young, "A Book Shaped Like Its Subject Matter,” The New York Times, September 26, 1996, C3.
  6. ↑ DeLony, Eric (1998). "Bridges". IA, The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology 24 (2): 56. JSTOR 40968442.
  7. ↑ Larry B. Stammer, “Houses of the Holy,” Los Angeles Times, June 30, 2002, pp 8, 9.
  8. ↑ Patricia Dane Rogers, “Vertical Reality,” The Washington Post, Nov. 7, 1996, 5.
  9. ↑ Prescott, Theodore. “Monuments: America’s History in Art and Memory,” American Arts Quarterly, Summer 2008.
  10. ↑ Wang, Judy. “Div. School Displays Shelters,” Yale Daily News, 31 January 2007.
  11. ↑ Kudra, Ireen E. “Bridges,” The New York Times, December 7, 1997, 24.

External links