"This is the first book to explore in depth the development of America's premier Impressionist group, which formed amid great controversy in 1897 following the secession of its members from the once progressive Society of American Artists. Childe Hassam, John H. Twachtman, William Merritt Chase (who joined the group after Twachtman's death), Edmund C. Tarbell, Frank W. Benson, Joseph R. De Camp, Thomas W. Dewing, Edward E. Simmons, Willard L. Metcalf, Robert Reid, and J. Alden Weir ... The author discusses the beginning of the ten artists' activities as members of a sweeping reform movement at the time of the nation's Centennial Exhibition in 1876, traces their emergence as Impressionist painters in the 1880s and 1890s, and charts the course of their mature careers as members of the Ten between 1897 and 1917."--Jacket.
With the advent of abstract expressionism in the 1940s, America became the white hot center of the artistic universe. Now, in The Oxford Dictionary of American Art and Artists, the first such volume to appear in three decades, Ann Lee Morgan offers an informative, insightful, and long overdue resource on our nation's artistic heritage. Featuring 945 alphabetically arranged entries, here is an indispensable biographical and critical guide to American art from colonial times to contemporary postmodernism. Readers will find a wealth of factual detail and insightful analysis of the leading American painters, ranging from John Singleton Copley, Thomas Cole, and Mary Cassatt to such modern masters as Jackson Pollack, Romare Bearden, and Andy Warhol. Morgan offers razor-sharp entries on sculptors ranging from Alexander Calder to Louise Nevelson, on photographers such as Berenice Abbott, Man Ray, Walker Evans, and Ansel Adams, and on contemporary installation artists, including video master Bill Viola. In addition, the dictionary provides entries on important individuals connected to the art scene, including collectors such as Peggy Guggenheim and critics such as Clement Greenberg. Morgan also examines notable American institutions, organizations, schools, techniques, styles, and movements. The range of coverage is indeed impressive, but equally important is the quality of analysis that appears in entry after entry. Morgan gives readers a wealth of trustworthy and authoritative information as well as perceptive, well-informed criticism of artists and their work. In addition, the book is thoroughly cross-referenced, so readers can easily find additional information on any topic of interest. Beautifully written, filled with fascinating historical background and penetrating insight, The Oxford Dictionary of American Art and Artists is an essential one-volume resource for art lovers everywhere.
