Manny Farber

Emanuel Farber (February 20, 1917 – August 18, 2008) was an American painter, film critic and writer. Often described as "iconoclastic",^[1][2][3] Farber developed a distinctive prose style ^[1] and set of theoretical stances which have had a large influence on later generations of film critics and influence on underground culture.^[1] Susan Sontag considered him to be "the liveliest, smartest, most original film critic this country has ever produced."^[4]

Farber's writing was distinguished by its "visceral," punchy style

Farber's painting, which was often influenced by his favorite filmmakers,[1] is held in equally high regard; he was dubbed the greatest still life painter of his generation by The New York Times.^[1]

Early life

Emanuel Farber was born in

In 1970, Farber left New York City to teach and to join the faculty of department of visual arts at the University of California, San Diego.^[13] Reportedly, Farber traded his Manhattan loft to artist Don Lewallen in exchange for Lewallen's teaching position at UCSD after the two met at a party.^[6] Once in San Diego, he focused on painting and teaching. During his time at UCSD, his faculty colleagues Newton Harrison, Harold Cohen, Amy Goldin, and David Antin.

All of his film criticism from 1975,

Originally an art professor only, Farber was approached about teaching a film class because of his background as a critic. He taught several courses, including "History of Film" and "Films in Social Context," which became famous for his unusual teaching style: he usually showed films only in disconnected pieces, sometimes running them backwards or adding in slides and sketches on the blackboard to illustrate his ideas.[6] His exams had a reputation for being demanding and complicated, and occasionally required students to draw storyboards of scenes from memory.^[6]

Style

"Manny Farber is the Raymond Chandler of American film criticism."^[10]

"Farber’s style was drolly impatient, culturally far-reaching, and addictively conversational. In it, the reader sensed a mind that loved film-going enough to hold filmmakers accountable for their efforts with the same elevated combination of annoyance and appreciation formerly only accorded to playwrights, classical and jazz musicians, and fine artists."^[9]

Farber's writing is well known for its distinctive prose style,

Farber frequently championed genre filmmakers like Howard Hawks, Anthony Mann and Raoul Walsh; however, despite his fondness for B-films, Farber was often critical of film noir.^[6]

"White Elephant Art vs. Termite Art"

One of Farber's best-known essays is "White Elephant Art vs. Termite Art",

"Termite-tapeworm-fungus-moss art," Farber contends, "goes always forward eating its own boundaries, and, like as not, leaves nothing in its path other than the signs of eager, industrious, unkempt activity."^[18]

Personal life

Farber met his third wife,^[8] Patricia Patterson, in New York, in 1966, where Farber had lived since 1942, when he began writing about movies.

Farber retired from teaching in 1987, at age 70. Towards the end of his life, he found it difficult to paint, and instead focused on collages and drawings; his final exhibition of new work occurred just a month before his death.

He died at his home in Leucadia, Encinitas, California, on August 18, 2008.^[1] He was survived by Patterson, a daughter from a previous marriage, and a grandson.^[19]

"...Manny, who has died aged 91, was tall, lanky and comic looking. He might have played Popeye, or one of those old-timers in the Anthony Mann westerns he cherished. He wore jeans and plaid shirts and the hair had gone back from his great dome of a forehead by the time I met him."^[19]

Reputation and influence

"

Dwight MacDonald and Stephen Farber."^[20] — Roger Ebert^[21]

• Farber, Manny (February 2, 2016). Farber on Film: The Complete Film Writings of Manny Farber: A Library of America Special Publication.
  ISBN 978-1-59853-470-2.^[22][23]
• Farber, Manny (2003). Manny Farber: About Face.
  ISBN 978-0-934418-63-8
  .
• Farber, Manny (1998). Negative Space: Manny Farber on the Movies, Expanded Edition. New York: Da Capo Press.
  ISBN 0-306-80829-3
  .

• Farber, Manny (1957). "Underground Films". Commentary.^[12][11]

Awards

• Guggenheim Fellowship (1967 and 1978–79)^[24]
• National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for Independent Study (1977–78)^[24]
• National Endowment for the Arts Grant (1971)^[24]
• Graybar Fellowship (1967)^[24]

Further reading

• Thompson, Rick. "Manny Farber and Patricia Patterson Interviewed". Screening The Past. Cinema Studies, School of Communications, Arts and Critical Enquiry, La Trobe University. Retrieved October 20, 2023. appeared originally in Film Comment v. 13, n. 3, May–June 1977, pp. 36-45; 54-60.
• Frey, Mattias; Sayad, Cecilia (April 20, 2015). Film Criticism in the Digital Age.
  ISBN 978-0-8135-7074-7
  .
• The Library of America interviews Robert Polito about Manny Farber
• Manny Farber: systems of movement at Comparative Cinema, Pompeu Fabra University, Observatory on Contemporary European Cinema (Observatori del Cinema Europeu Contemporani)
• Leclere, Mary (January 25, 2016). As Criticism: From Cultural Criticism to Art Criticism (PDF). University of Virginia, History of Art and Architecture - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, PHD (Doctor of Philosophy).
  doi:10.18130/V32P3Z
  .

• Hudson, David (August 18, 2008). "Manny Farber, 1917 - 2008". GreenCine Daily. Archived from the original on July 18, 2009. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
• doi:10.1353/cj.0.0102
  . — Cover story for the Spring issue. Sklar praises Farber's writing and his view that "movies weren't movies anymore" but regrets that "over time his viewpoint proved unworkable as an effective career strategy."
• "Manny Farber". visarts.ucsd.edu.
• "Manny Farber (1917—2008)". rouge (12). 2008.
• Hoberman, J. (August 19, 2008). "Manny Farber 1917-2008". The Village Voice.

References