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Democracy’s Medici: The Federal Reserve and the Art of Collecting is a profile of the central bank seen from the perspective of the author’s unorthodox art-historical career as founding Director of the Fine Arts Program of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. This is an insider’s view by an art historian about the Federal Reserve culture, larger-than-life personalities, and the fine arts function set against the broader backdrop, both of the Fed’s banking and regulatory mission, and the economic, political, and social context. During her 31-year tenure, Goley organized over 110 exhibitions on a range of subjects from New York Graffiti artists to the first U.S. exhibi...
At the time of his death, the Pittsburgh-born John White Alexander (1856-1915) was an internationally recognized portrait painter, on a part with his contemporaries John Singer Sargent and William Merritt Chase. However the works that have earned him even greater acclaim than his portraits are his figure paintings of femmes fatales, usually richly attired in flowing dresses and striking elaborate poses. Alexander had been much in demand as a portraitist, both of men and children as well as women, but his real talent, which became evident relatively late in his career, lay in his ability to capture the essence of the female form. This talent blossomed after he encountered Juliette Very, the Parisian model who became his muse. Inspired by Juliette, his paintings are imbued with sentiment expressed through movement and gesture, and it was the portrayal of his models in this way that brought him fame. He also borrowed from the post-impressionist group of painters, the Nabis' use of bold abstract forms and flowing lines, and from James McNeil Whistler's muted coloration, to create his own unique style.
This book provides a professional and personal biography of George W. Mitchell compiled by Mary T. Mitchell, his wife of 32 years. George Mitchell was a Federal Reserve Governor from 1961 to 1976 and Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board from 1973 to 1976. Prior to joining the Federal Reserve Board, Mr. Mitchell was Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Director of Finance for the State of Illinois under then Governor Adlai Stevenson. Mr. Mitchell was a major contributor to monetary policy and to banking systems during the latter half of the 20th century. He was a pioneer in the development of electronic funds transfer systems. In his personal life, Governor Mitchell was a devoted family man and avid collector of modern art. He treated all of the members of his very large family with love and care. He encouraged young people to participate fully in life's joys and responsibilities. He consistently emphasized the value of education and the need for integrity in all of life's pursuits.
The first in a beautiful four-volume complete catalogue of all known works by the beloved American artist William Merritt Chase A perennial favorite of museum visitors, the works of William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) embody the quintessential characteristics of American Impressionism: outdoor landscapes, a colorful palette, and an energetic brushstroke. He was also a portrait painter of the first rank, a master of still life, a renowned teacher, and a leader of artists' societies. This gorgeous book, the first of a four-volume definitive catalogue, features Chase's stunning paintings in pastel, which constitute a major and previously understudied body of work by the artist; monotypes; painted...
Richard A. Etlin demonstrates how the conceptual basis of the modern house and the physical layout of the modern city emerged from debates among theoretically innovative French architects of the eighteenth century. Examining a broad range of topics from architecture and urbanism to gardening and funerary monuments, he reconsiders eighteenth-century French architecture with regard to the ways in which it was informed by symbolic space. This book provides an accessible introduction to a century of architecture that transformed the classical forms of the Renaissance and Baroque periods into building types still familiar today.
Drawing from Life explores revolutionary drawing and sketching in the early People’s Republic of China (1949–1965) in order to discover how artists created a national form of socialist realism. Tracing the development of seminal works by the major painters Xu Beihong, Wang Shikuo, Li Keran, Li Xiongcai, Dong Xiwen, and Fu Baoshi, author Christine I. Ho reconstructs how artists grappled with the representational politics of a nascent socialist art. The divergent approaches, styles, and genres presented in this study reveal an art world that is both heterogeneous and cosmopolitan. Through a history of artistic practices in pursuit of Maoist cultural ambitions—to forge new registers of experience, new structures of feeling, and new aesthetic communities—this original book argues that socialist Chinese art presents a critical, alternative vision for global modernism.
Late in the nineteenth century, many Americans were troubled by the theories of Charles Darwin, which contradicted both traditional Christian teachings and the idea of human supremacy over nature, and by an influx of foreign immigrants, who challenged the supremacy of the old Anglo-Saxon elite. In response, many people drew comfort from the theories of philosopher Herbert Spencer, who held that human society inevitably develops towards higher and more spiritual forms. In this illuminating study, Kathleen Pyne explores how Spencer’s theories influenced a generation of American artists. She shows how the painters of the 1880s and 1890s, particularly John La Farge, James McNeill Whistler, Thomas Dewing and the Boston school, and the impressionist painters of the Ten, developed an art dedicated to social refinement and spiritual ideals and to defending the Anglo-Saxon elite of which they were members. This linking of visual culture to the problematic conditions of American life radically reinterprets the most important trends in late nineteenth-century American painting.
A study of an important but anonymous part of the history of American art: the materials and techniques used by American painters. Based on research including artists' recipe books, letters, journals, and painting manuals, it includes topics such as the quest for the 'secrets' of the Old Masters; the application of 'toning' layers; and more.
In 1901, the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens proclaimed in a letter to Will Low, “Health-is the thing!” Though recently diagnosed with intestinal cancer, Saint-Gaudens was revitalized by recreational sports, having realized midcareer “there is something else in life besides the four walls of an ill-ventilated studio.” The Medicine of Art puts such moments center stage in order to consider the role of health and illness in the way art was produced and consumed. Not merely beautiful or entertaining objects, works by Gilded-Age artists such as John Singer Sargent, Abbott Thayer, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens are shown to function as balm for the ill, providing relief from physical sufferin...