From Library Journal
These picture books accompany four of the eight exhibitions traveling through 2002 while the National Museum of American Art undergoes renovation. They cover periods or themes in American art and historyDthe West from the Louisiana Purchase to the Taos School, young America from 1760 to the Civil War, the Gilded Age from the Civil War into the 1920s, and American Impressionism from 1880 to 1930. Organized alphabetically by artist, each book presents single-page color plates facing brief entries of 100-150 words written by the museum's staff. With the minimal text and the arrangement by artist, the books lack sustained arguments. Nevertheless, they give a broad overview of their particular periods, including many famous and less-well-known works, and will make quite affordable additions to public libraries. (Illustrations seen only in galleys.)DJack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
The best work of American artists influenced by European Impressionism comes together in these appealing pages. As a generation of painters studied abroad and absorbed new approaches to light, palette, and composition, their landscapes, cityscapes, figural paintings, and still lifes began to exude their own distinct departures from academic styles. Shown are works by James McNeill Whistler, Childe Hassam, John Twachtman, Maria Oakey Dewing, William Merritt Chase, Edmund Tarbell, Frank Benson, Maurice Prendergast, and others.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

American Impressionism presents outstanding works by turn-of-the-century painters who often worked outdoors to capture brilliant effects of light and color. A generation of artists such as Childe Hassam, John Twachtman, Thomas and Maria Oakey Dewing, and William Merritt Chase studied abroad and absorbed advanced ideas that were revolutionizing painting in France." "Landscapes, domestic scenes, and elegant figure compositions by Theodore Robinson, Mary Cassatt, and Robert Reid show the freedom and sparkling qualities of the new impressionist style. Early in the twentieth century, Maurice Prendergast and Daniel Garber took impressionism in new, more modern directions.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

These picture books accompany four of the eight exhibitions traveling through 2002 while the National Museum of American Art undergoes renovation. They cover periods or themes in American art and history--the West from the Louisiana Purchase to the Taos School, young America from 1760 to the Civil War, the Gilded Age from the Civil War into the 1920s, and American Impressionism from 1880 to 1930. Organized alphabetically by artist, each book presents single-page color plates facing brief entries of 100-150 words written by the museum's staff. With the minimal text and the arrangement by artist, the books lack sustained arguments. Nevertheless, they give a broad overview of their particular periods, including many famous and less-well-known works, and will make quite affordable additions to public libraries. (Illustrations seen only in galleys.)--Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

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