Memoirs
March 2020
The Private Adolf Loos
Portrait of an Eccentric Genius
by Claire Beck Loos; Translated by Constance C. Pontasch and Nicholas Saunders
An intimate literary portrait of the infamously eccentric and influential modern architect, told in lively, snapshot-like vignettes. The Private Adolf Loos reveals the personality and philosophy that helped shape Modern architecture in Vienna and the Czech lands. Includes an introduction, supplemental texts, writings by Loos and photographs. The Loos' trip to the French Riviera and his work in France are a significant part of the story. Recommended to all those interested not only in architecture but also in the dynamic era of twenties and thirties. Not only a recollection of an extraordinary and controversial personality, Claire’s book is also an excellent literary work. She has captured with a brilliant lightness and humor the tedious, but not boring, life beside a somewhat self-centered genius. […] We still feel Loos’ charisma.– “Annoyed on Vacation and Misunderstood on Site: Loos, We Do Not Know Him,” Lidovk.cz What makes the book most valuable is the fine-grained portrait it provides us of Loos’ last years, of his activities and his preoccupations. […] The English translation of her book, made by Constance C. Pontasch [and Nicholas Saunders], is fluent and accurate, conveying well the tone of Claire Loos’ original (which, in turn, to some extent mimics Loos’ own writing style). Paterson’s introduction and afterword, along with some forty previously unpublished family photographs, add to the story and help flesh it out. It is a richly informative.– Christopher Long, West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture
