Reece does more than provide a catalog of works: he analyzes the illustrations and considers them as an extension of Davenport’s other literary talents. The in-depth analysis is the heart of this exploration.
Erik Anderson Reece is the author of a book of poems, My Muse Was Supposed to Meet Me Here, which won a Fund for Poetry Encouragement Award, and has published poetry and criticism in The Chicago Review and The Journal of Aesthetic and Art Criticism. He is married and lives in Scottsville, Virginia.
As Erik Anderson Reece says in A Balance of Quinces, “Many know Guy Davenport the creator of fiction, the critic, the illustrator, the poet, the translator…. But Guy Davenport the monastic painter is still unknown." Here gathered for the first time is a generous collection of Davenport’s paintings and drawings, interwoven with commentary by poet and critic Erik Anderson Reece. The broad scope of Davenport’s artistic output is included here: the pen-and-ink portraits, the abstract still lifes, and the collage compositions. Erik Anderson Reece’s essay provides cultural background for the work and examines it as am extension of Davenport’s writings. Besides the plentiful black-and-white reproductions throughout the text, this edition of A Balance of Quinces also includes twenty-four pages of color plates.
Reece does more than provide a catalog of works: he analyzes the illustrations and considers them as an extension of Davenport’s other literary talents. The in-depth analysis is the heart of this exploration.
