Title: This fantastic struggle
Description: An original and intense artist, Esther Phillips moved from her native-born Pittsburgh to New York during the Great Depression, where she came to live a typical artist’s minimal existence, literally starving at times. With her physical health often being run down, it was small wonder that her mental health followed suit, with her enduring much hardship, including institutionalization. One thinks of W. Somerset Maugham’s portrayal of the struggling artist in Of Human Bondage, as well as of the plaintive correspondence Van Gogh conducted with his brother, much of which also literally implored him for increased financial support, though Theo was a great deal more supportive of Vincent’s artistic endeavors than was Phillips’ family, on the whole, of her idiosyncratic way of life. Miles’ work is much more than a straightforward biography, including, as it does, many interviews, scholarly source material, art work and institution documents, obtained only after Miles had specifically petitioned the relevant authorities for their Court Ordered release.

Phillips’ story is told through innumerable primary source documents and dialogues, as well as her own work, which is used to illustrate This Fantastic Struggle throughout. The correspondence between Phillips and Merle Hoyleman, her close friend and agent, as well as with fellow Greenwich Village artist Eugenia Hughes, reveals her dedication to her art. Extracts from journals also reveal the intensity of her creative life. Phillips’ unique voice also emerges from transcriptions of visits that a niece took during the artist’s last days. For this biography, Miles conducted over twenty extensive interviews with those who either knew her personally, or who were well acquainted with her work. Included in This Fantastic Struggle are reviews of her early Pittsburgh work, as well as information about the Washington Square Outdoor Shows, a public expo of the work of Village artists. Much of the focus of this work is also on the Federal Arts Projects, the Abstract Expressionists, women artists in general, and the impact of mental illness on the creative spirit.

This Fantastic Struggle should appeal to a wide range of readers who are involved with, and who care passionately about, the arts. Miles states that her intention with the biography is to “write Esther’s story for all the creative artists out there who know too well her fantastic struggle, but especially I write to many more, a vast audience probably unfamiliar with this challenging yet joyful existence known as the creative life, in hope to bring an artist’s existence truly into view.”
Subjects: Artists with mental disabilities, Biography, Women artists, Federal Arts Projects, Abstract Expressionists
Places: United States, Pittsburgh, Greenwich Village, New York
People: Esther Phillips (1902-1983), Merle Hoyleman, Eugenia Hughes
Time periods: Great Depression