America's Art


Book Description

Celebrating the reopening of the newly restored Smithsonian American Art Museum, a premier collection of American art features more than 250 reproductions of great works of American painting, sculpture, folk art, and photography, by such artists as Edward Hopper, Georgia O'Keeffe, Nam June Paik, and other luminaries.




Brilliance!


Book Description

This sensational design book showcases America’s most gorgeous and inventive art jewelry! For over a decade, the elite invitation-only American Jewelry Design Council (AJDC) has sponsored an annual project: every member creates an original piece based on a given theme. With imagination and skill, jewelers have tackled such concepts as the Mona Lisa, Wheel, Key, Puzzle, Water, Flight, Peekaboo, Sphere, Pyramid, and Secret Treasure. Each of these topics now becomes a dramatically photographed chapter, complete with illuminating introductions by renowned jewelry writers Cindy Edelstein and Frank Stankus. In addition to background information on the AJDC, and the story of the annual design event, artists’ commentaries enhance specific images. A final members’ section includes a biography, headshot, and additional jewelry images for each talented individual.




The Berlin Masterpieces in America


Book Description

This new volume tells the story of some of the paintings rescued by the the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives (MFAA) organization, the so-called "Monuments Men." In December 1945, 202 paintings, found in German salt mines 2,100 feet underground, where they had been hidden to escape the allied bombing of Berlin, were brought to the United States "for safe keeping" by the Department of the Army. They were exhibited in 1948 at the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, before some of them were sent on a whistle-stop tour of 13 US cities, despite furious opposition from museum directors, Gallery staff, the public, government officials, and a resolution from 98 leading art authorities demanding the immediate return of the works to Germany. All the paintings, examples of Flemish, Dutch, German, French, English, and Italian Schools, were from museums in Berlin, and had been found in April 1945, along with 100 tons of Reichsbank gold, by the special team of art historians and experts, seconded in the US army, and charged with locating and restituting works of art looted by the Nazis. This book is the first to consider the paintings themselves; it features 22 artworks that were in the original NGA exhibition, including four paintings on loan from Berlin, augmented by others from Cincinnati Art Museum, National Gallery of Art, Washington, The Getty Museum, Miami University (Oxford, OH), and the Taft Museum.




Masterpieces of American Modernism


Book Description

Modernism, referring to the period dating roughly from the late 19th century through 1970, is regarded as a crucial moment in the history of American art. Although Modernist artists adopted a wide range of styles, they were tied by a desire to interpret the rapidly changing nature of society, and to cast aside the conventions of representational art. Some, such as Stuart Davis and Joseph Stella, responded to consumerism, urbanism, and industrial technology, while others, such as Arthur Dove and Georgia O’Keeffe, found inspiration in nature and the traditional Native American culture of the Southwest. This magnificent new book presents the works of the Vilcek Collection, an unparalleled private collection of American Modernist art. Jan and Marica Vilcek acquired their first American Modernist work in 2001, and have since assembled an amazing collection of masterworks representative of a crucial moment in the history of American art. Art historian Lewis Kachur explores almost 100 rarely seen paintings, works on paper, and sculptures by more than 20 leading artists active during the first half of the last century, while William C. Agee contributes an authoritative introduction. Lavishly illustrated throughout, Masterpieces of American Modernism offers an outstanding overview of the radical shift in art that this movement represents.




American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art


Book Description

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.




50 American Masterpieces


Book Description




Masterpieces of African-American Literature


Book Description

A unique and vital guide that summarizes, explains and evaluates the greatest works of African-American literature -- including articles on writings from James Baldwin, W. E. B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, Malcolm X, Toni Morrison and many more.




Masterpieces of American Glass


Book Description

Spectacular full-color photographs and a fascinating text trace the history of glassmaking in America, from the functional bottles, bowls, flasks, goblets, and oil lamps of colonial times to stunning pieces of contemporary glass art. 140 full-color photographs.




Masterpieces of American Painting


Book Description

Illustrated with almost 100 full-color paintings and many black-and-white photographs. From John Singleton Copley to Milton Avery.




American Short Story Masterpieces


Book Description

This highly acclaimed collection of short stories by American writers contains only the best literary art of the past four decades. Editors Raymond Carver and Tom Jenks have selected fiction that “tells a story”–and tells it with a masterful handling of language, situation, and insight. But what is so special about this volume is that it mirrors our age, our concerns, and our lives. Whether it’s the end of a marriage, as in Bobbie Ann Manson’s “Shiloh,” or the struggle with self-esteem and weight in Andre Dubus’s “The Fat Girl,” the 36 works included her probe issues that give us that “shock of recognition” that is the hallmark of great art—wonderful, absorbing fiction that will be read and reread for decades to come.