Review copied from my blog (link included below)

Title: Pauline Boty: British Pop Art’s Sole Sister*


Author: Marc Kristal


Rating: 2.75 / 5 stars


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Favorite Quote: “Like someone removed from suspended animation, Pauline Boty has begun to emerge from the glacial ice of history into a world transformed, a world more ready to receive her message than the one in which he levied. Her story is rich in relevance: to art and politics, sex and free expression, celebrity and popular culture, the possibilities and limitations of mass media, and to the struggle to be a fully actualized woman in societies still suffering from sexual stereotyping and gender equality.” Kristal, Marc. Pauline Boty: British Pop Art’s Sole Sister. Frances Lincoln, 2023, pg. 10.


Review: Thank you to the publisher, Frances Lincoln, and the NetGalley platform for the free e-ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.


This book outlines the life and work of British Pop Artist, Pauline Boty. It genuinely is a nice foundation for folks (like myself) who didn’t know about Boty’s work until reading this book. (My reason for picking this book up is that I’ve been interested in learning more about art as I go on my own art journey and this seemed like a wonderful place to start.) It does try to strike a nice balance between detailing Boty’s life (and thus the inspiration for her work) and the work itself. The pages that include photos of her or prints of her work are also working really well because they provide a nice balance to the text.


However - and this is where the relatively low rating is coming from - the author seems to engage in the same type of behavior that he is also purportedly criticizing - namely, emphasizing Boty’s body and her sexuality instead of her position as a professional and an artist. By referring to Boty as the “Sole SIster '' in the title, the author is positioning Boty on a bit of a pedestal, or, at the very least, distinct from other individuals. And yet - even as the author at times points out how Boty was featured for her beauty or her sexuality throughout her life, the author ultimately ends up doing the same much of the time.


Boty was talented and, per the book, explored a variety of creative endeavors, some more successful than others. She had a vibrant life, both personally and professionally. And yet, much like many of the commentators the author critiqued, he ends up often reducing her to the same qualities she was reduced to during her life. It was disappointing.


About that Quote: I think this quote, aptly found in the book’s description, is what I hoped to find in the book as a whole. In the next paragraph, the author goes on to explore the ways in which Boty’s success was hampered by the people around her and the society she lived in. But, as previously noted, the author often falls into these same narratives.


Are you a fan of Pauline Boty? Do you plan to read Pauline Boty: British Pop Art’s Sole Sister? Share your thoughts below!

A beautiful and necessary book! It is about time Pauline Boty gets her due. She was mentioned in an Ali Smith book "Autumn," and I remember thinking "who?" I took a class in college on pop art and never heard of her - yet heard of the artists who were in Art School with her at the same time -- like Richard Hamilton, whose compelling artwork is well known - "Just What is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, so Appealing?" Pauline was an artist who worked in many forms - collage, painting, set design as well as acting! She has a small role with Michael Caine in Alfie. Now I need to re-watch that film! She died tragically young after giving birth, and yet she left a legacy that the world needs to know about. I continue to be amazed at how many great women artists were ignored in Art History and museums and I am so glad this book was published.

Thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion for an ARC and I left this review voluntarily.

I was not familiar with Pauline Boty's work and in fact found this book by chance. I'm very interested in art and I was curious to learn about this artist I did not know. Plus I especially enjoy when books put female artists in the spotlight, as they're still so often less known than their male counterparts.
I really really enjoyed this book. Boty's striking art and her tragically short life make for a moving exploration of her career. I enjoyed the way the book was built, I think it had the right balance between images and text (I'm often frustrated when art books show a collection of art without much explanation, or actually drown the art in much too detailed explanation).
I would definitely look to have it added to the school library as I think her work deserves to be better-known.

I’d never heard of Pauline Boty, English pop artist until I read Ali Smith’s Autumn and while reading that book, I just had to Google Boty’s paintings. This book is a very thorough look at her life, work and times particularly the late 50s and early 60s. It is mostly biography but also intersting for the insights into life for women in the arts and the changing roles of women. Tragically Boty died at only 28, choosing to give birth rather than have an abortion so she could be treated for the cancer that killed her four months or so after her daughter is born. I found the epilogue extremely moving, again tragically her daughters life is also short. Plenty of pictures of the artworks and while I wouldn’t say I love them, they are striking.

I discovered Pauline Bony through Ali Smith's Autumn, in which Boty's work is a focus of the text. I listened to Smith being interviewed on The Great Women Artist's podcast and her delight in Boty's work and its rediscovery led me to this book. Kristal has done a thorough job of tracking down as much information about Boty as possible and you get the impression that no stone has been left unturned. There are also good, colour images throughout the book of Boty's works, which are very helpful. I learned a lot. I did struggle with some aspects of the book, perhaps because Boty died so early in her life and career that attempting to create a book about her whole life, when she didn't have one, sometimes jars. I got the sense that there were times when the part has been made to stand in for the whole. It is clear to me that she was a woman way ahead of her time. It is such a shame that she never got to develop as a mature artist. I feel she could have been capable of truly great things based on what she left behind. It is great that a book about her is even a thing, given that she was forgotten for so long.

I absolutely loved reading this book. I was completely drawn into the topic and could not stop reading it.