This is a survey of the history of American art as well as the history of the collection of American Masterpieces in the National Gallery of Art. This enlarged edition reflects the changes in the collection since 1980. The Newly acquired works include Rembrandt Peale's Rubens Peale with Geranium, Hick's Peaceable Kingdom, Cassatt's Little Girl in a Blue Armchair and Hopper's Cape Cod Evening and others by Homer, Eakins, Whistler, Prendergast, O'Keefe and Marin.
This handsome tribute to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. traces the history of the museum from conception to construction on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary. Opened with great fanfare, the National Gallery was "the richest single gift from any individual to any nation ever." That individual was financier Andrew Mellon. Kopper's succinct biography covers Mellon's personal and political life as well as his passion for collecting the paintings of old masters. Mellon's bequest stipulated the museum's name, location, and details of governance, ensuring continued high standards and a vital future. Kopper includes profiles of the architect and various museum directors, including Mellon's son Paul, as well as illustrations that document some of the collection's highlights. ISBN 0-8109-3658-5: $60.00 (For use only in the library)
Enlarged to accommodate museum acquisitions from the 1980s, this revised edition serves as both a beautifully packaged promotional piece for the National Gallery and a concise survey of American art history. In his introductory essay, Wilmerding explores the collecting history of this relatively young museum and explains how individual works fit into an art historical framework. While this introduction ranges over the collection, covering drawings, watercolors, sculpture, photography, and prints, the body of the book includes only paintings. Seventy-five masterpieces, beginning with a colonial portrait by Benjamin West and concluding with an Abstract Expressionist canvas by Robert Motherwell, are illustrated by handsome color plates. Short biographies of the artists represented appear as an addendum. Great for browsing.-- Kathleen Eagen Johnson, Historic Hudson Valley, Tarrytown, N.Y. -Library Journal.
Featuring paintings by American icons like Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins, this book illustrates the ways American artists have viewed themselves, their peers, and their painted worlds over 200 years.
-World War I and American Art provides an unprecedented look at the ways in which American artists reacted to the war. Artists took a leading role in chronicling the war, crafting images that influenced public opinion, supported mobilization efforts, and helped to shape how the war's appalling human toll was memorialized. The book brings together paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, posters, and ephemera, spanning the diverse visual culture of the period to tell the story of a crucial turning point in the history of American art---
Lavishly illustrated with hundreds of full-color images, this family-oriented art resource introduces children to more than 50 great artists and their work, with corresponding activities and explorations that inspire artistic development, focused looking, and creative writing. This treasure trove of artwork from the National Gallery of Art includes, among others, works by Raphael, Rembrandt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Henri Matisse, Chuck Close, Jacob Lawrence, Pablo Picasso, and Alexander Calder, representing a wide range of artistic styles and techniques. Written by museum educators with decades of hands-on experience in both art-making activities and making art relatable to children, the activities include sculpting a clay figure inspired by Edgar Degas; drawing an object from touch alone, inspired by Joan Miro’s experience as an art student; painting a double-sided portrait with one side reflecting physical traits and the other side personality traits, inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s Ginevra de' Benci; and creating a story based on a Mary Cassatt painting. Educators, homeschoolers, and families alike will find their creativity sparked by this art extravaganza.
