In this exhilarating study, David Rosand shows how America was transformed from a provincial follower of the established traditions of European painting to become one of the forerunners of artistic innovation. Pushing beyond the parochial question of "what is American about American art?" The Invention of Painting in America identifies not only the status of the artist and his or her relationship to the work of art but the larger dialogue between the artist and society as well.
The most visited gallery of the National Portrait Gallery is the Hall of Presidents, the collection of portraits of America's elected leaders. More than a visual record of holders of power, these images evoke the careers and legacies of the men they portray.
A lavishly illustrated catalog of portraits of Newport residents from the eighteenth century to the present.
Newport, Rhode Island, has always been a fabled American city. From 1639 when it was founded by religious dissidents from the Massachusetts Bay Colony until the Revolution, it was one of the five most important commercial centers in the colonies, aided, no doubt, by its unusual policy of religious toleration. Occupied and burned by the British during the war, Newport never regained its commercial importance, but by the end of the nineteenth century it had become the Gilded Age's most glamorous resort community and site of the grandest parties and summer houses of the national Social Register. Though much of the glamor has evaporated, it is still one of most visited summer resort locations.
This ponderously impressive tome examines colonial painter Copley's American-produced oeuvre. The artist's life and work is covered until his relocation to London in 1774. Based on a large exhibition organized by New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art and Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, this is the first monograph to appear on Copley since 1966. Essays by noted American art historians trace the artist's training and subsequent production of oil paintings, pastels, and miniatures. The scholarly re-creation of issues pertinent to the artist and his sitters' social environment is matchless, and the illustrations alone are well worth the book's price. However, the text is not an easy narrative, perhaps because of its authoritative tone. This study is most appropriate for academic and specialized library collections with an emphasis on Early American art and culture. —Paula A. Baxter, NYPL Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
A book for both the general reader of American history and the student of art, Flexner's study of Copley (1738-1815), brings into vivid detail the struggle the artist endured against an unfavorable environment in the New World, his rise to fame, the development of his unique style, and the personal growth of the man who rose to critical acclaim and then sank to obscurity.
Copley's life began in the humble surroundings of Boston's waterfront. As poor boy growing up in a city where no formal art instruction was available and the conventional response of Boston society was a Puritanical mistrust of such activity, rigorous self-instruction was Copley's only means to his goal of becoming a painter. Through laborious work Copley mastered his craft; the portraits he produced between 1753 and 1774, at the height of his fame, were distinguished by the fully rounded modeling and realism which make the personalities of his sujects come alive. His paintings in these years were the best works a colonial American artist had ever produced. Yet his personal letters reveal that he found life in Boston limited, as he cites the dearth of great art from which to learn and by which to be inspired and, complains of what he perceives to be the underappreciation of his patrons.
The Boston Tea Part and other events led inexorably towards the Revolution. Copley was unwillingly drawn into the troubled political arena; his loyalist connections made his life in Boston increasingly turbulent and precarious. In 1774, at the suggestion of Joshu Reynolds and Benjamin West, Copley became convinced he was wasting his talents in the colonies and moved to London to study the European masters. This decision marked the second period of his life, lasting 40 years, and instigated a no less dramatic shift in the style and subject of his art. Copley's tour of European cities and galleries broadened the range and scope of his work. He produced large canvases of sweeping historical scenes glorifying war, political subjects, and religious subjects considered taboo in the colonies. Copley's fame soared to world-wide recognition as a historical painter. 1802 marks the beginning of Copley's ascent. In his later work Copley seems to have lost his strong sense of composition; eventually, even his draftsmanship seemed to fail him. The rejection and scorn of critics stung Copley, who, nearing seventy years old, spent the last years of his life struggling to regain his former acclaim.
Though he was born in Scotland and created some of his better portraits in London, Smibert can rightfully lay claim to the title of America's first portrait painter. Art historian Saunders (American Colonial Portraits: 1700-1776, LJ 3/15/88) has carefully documented not only Smibert's life in Scotland and England but also his travels to Italy. After arriving in the colony of Rhode Island with his good friend, the philosopher and divine George Berkeley, Smibert hoped to participate in Berkeley's Utopian plan for a college in Bermuda. When funding for the project proved insufficient, Smibert remained in America, relocating to Massachusetts, where he turned to depicting the men and women of Boston. Saunders's meticulous scholarship is highlighted by his clear prose and engaging telling of Smibert's life. Of particular interest and usefulness is an extensive catalog of Smibert's works, which includes unlocated and misattributed works. Recommended for collections of American art and history. —Martin R. Kalfatovic, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, D.C. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The period of rapid industrial expansion in America after the Civil War is known as the Gilded Age. The era saw the formation of great personal fortunes and the almost feverish amassing of goods and art to fill the palatial homes of the rich. The commissioning of portraits was one way for the new aristocracy to express their wealth and demonstrate their achievements, and the stunning works of art created during these years remain among the finest examples of portraiture. Lavishly illustrated with 175 portraits and period photographs, High Society brings to life the colourful personalities of the major artists and patrons of the Gilded Age, and, through essays exploring such themes as women artists and new public perceptions of the artist, provides an entertaining introduction to a significant chapter in American art.
This book accompanies the first major exhibition to focus exclusively on the portraits made by the Impressionist masters and their immediate predecessors. Breaking free from portraiture's conventions, the Impressionists expanded the notion of a portrait to reflect not only an individual's appearance but also his or her everyday surroundings. From traditional, tightly rendered likenesses to light-filled, loosely brushed paintings, the works in this volume depict a variety of subjects: friends, family members, patrons, public figures, and the artists themselves. Reproduced are key works by fourteen pivotal figures including Gustave Caillebotte, Mary Cassatt, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, which reveal the astonishing originality and beauty of the Impressionists' portraits.
In an introductory essay, John House examines how the Impressionists' revolutionary approach to painting changed portraiture and discusses the meanings and implications of the various types of portraits they made. House explains how these portraits were used to establish public and private identities and what makes them such insightful expressions of modern life and identity.
An extended catalogue entry by curator Sona Johnston, assisted by Susan Bollendorf, accompanies each plate, discussing the identities of the paintings' subjects, the relationships between artists and sitters, and the place of each painting within the artist's oeuvre. The stories behind the canvases are revealed as Johnston highlights the social context of this influential circle of artists.
An essential volume for lovers of Impressionism, this beautiful book paints a revealingly intimate picture of the Impressionists' world.
Facing the New World features important paintings by distinguished American artists such as Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Sully, Charles Willson Peale, John Wesley Jarvis, and Ralph Earl. There are portraits by unknown folk-artists and some comparative paintings of non-Jewish subjects, including a work by Joshua Johnson, an accomplished African-American painter active in the Baltimore area.
To some, Gilbert Stuart is merely the artist whose portrait of George Washington stared from nearly every classroom in the country at one time. He was, of course, as this book beautifully displays, one of this country's finest artists. Beginning as a Colonial primitive, Stuart limited himself to portrait painting, and achieved international fame before his death in 1828. McLanathan ably presents a clear, intelligent biography that is profusely illustrated with 51 color reproductions and 50 black-and-whites. This brief treatment of Stuart's life is not meant to compete with the only major biography to date, Charles Merrill Mount's Gilbert Stuart, a Biography (Norton, 1964). However, its inclusion of recent research and its splendid reproductions make it highly desirable for most collections. —Daniel J. Lombardo, Jones Lib., Inc., Amherst, Mass. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
