"A true historical painter ... is one who paints the life he sees about him, and so makes a record of his own epoch." This principle, voiced by the Impressionist Childe Hassam, was heeded by the artists whose contributions are the focus of this volume: the American Impressionists and the Realists of the generation that succeeded them. The authors of the book, which accompanies a major exhibition, illuminate the continuities and differences between American Impressionism and Realism, two movements that are traditionally viewed as merely opposed.They explore the roots of American Impressionism in European art, especially in the French Impressionists' engagement with the contemporary scene. Also elucidated are the evolving responses of both the American Impressionists and Realists to the changing realities of life in the United States at the turn of the century, as the nation shifted rapidly from an agrarian to an increasingly industrialized urban society. In an examination of paintings that represent the country, the city, and the home - the triad of subjects that engaged the artists - these responses are shown to reflect a tension between enthusiasm for the new and a sense of loss of the rural past. Studying a wide range of painters, including John Singer Sargent, William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, John Sloan, William Glackens, and George Bellows, the authors offer new insights into the threads of nationalism, optimism, euphemism, and nostalgia that link the two movements. They demonstrate that these painters of modern life endowed their European-rooted art with a distinctly American inflection and produced a selective register of an energetic nation, revealing a complex commitment to Robert Henri's assertion that "painting is the giving of evidence."The volume brings a new approach to this area of American art history, which has tended to be more descriptive than interpretive: it offers detailed historical and social contexts for the works and movements under consideration as well as penetrating stylistic analyses. Lavish illustrations of the paintings in the exhibition, comparative works and period photographs, a biography of each of the twenty-six artists in the exhibition, a selected bibliography, and an index are included.

American Impressionism and Realism The Painting of Modern Life, 1885-1915

Arts & Photography

Bolger, Doreen

Curry, David Park

Weinberg, H. Barbara

History & Criticism

Metropolitan Museum of Art

American Impressionism and Realism: The Painting of Modern Life, 1885–1915 brings together the appealing works of two generations of American painters and presents them from a fresh point of view. The American Impressionists and Realists have been categorized as separate or even opposing groups, but, in fact, they shared significant experiences and goals―notably Parisian training, an enthusiasm for modern French painting, and a desire to translate these sources into a peculiarly American idiom. The continuities between these two groups are more impressive and the constrasts more subtle, a complexity that is highlighted by arranging the works not by artist or chronology, but by broad subject categories: the country, the city, and the home.  The turn of the last century was a time of unprecedented political, economic, and social change due to industrialization, rise of the middle class, redefinition of family and gender roles, and a new scientific understanding of the world. People were acutely aware that they were living in a new age, and modernity became a key concept in their definition of themselves and their times. Charles Baudelaire's issued a mandate in his essay "The Painting of Modern Life" in 1863, that modernity must accompany true beauty in painting. In their dazzling sunlit landscapes, bustling city views, and glimpses of the domestic scene, the American Impressionists and Realists became Baudelairean painters of modern life yet also expressed the nationalism, optimism, euphemism, and nostalgia that typified the American response to the exciting and daunting developments of their new era. [This book was originally published in 1994 and has gone out of print. This edition is a print-on-demand version of the original book.]

American Impressionism and Realism: The Painting of Modern Life, 1885–1915

With bibliography and index. 240 illustrations of which 35 are in color

American Pastels in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fritzsche, Mary Wayne

Harry N.Abrams, Inc.

William M. Harnett

In his short but productive career, William Michael Harnett (1848-1892) became the great American master of trompe-l'oeil still-life painting. His works, popular with the public long before they were appreciated by the art critics, "fool the eye" with their convincing, sharp-edged definition of form and careful rendering of materials. This volume provides the first thorough examination of Harnett's career and its significance for the history of American art. Twenty-two essays by a roster of leading scholars examine three major areas: Harnett's relationship to his contemporaries, among them painters, patrons, critics, and the general public; his formative training and experiences; and the meaning of his themes for the audience that supported him. These essays discuss not only Harnett's own technical skill and artistic development, but also the aesthetic issues of illusionism and trompe l'oeil, Harnett's relationship to other painters working in a similar vein, and the implications of his subject matter. Ultimately, the essays help to resolve the question of how Harnett's technically skillful imitations of real objects fit the definition of "art" and what his popularity says about the culture in which he worked and lived. Each of the editors has written an essay for this volume; other contributors include Henry Adams, Maria Chamberlin-Hellman, Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Elizabeth Jane Connell, William H. Gerdts, Elizabeth Johns, Judy L. Larson, David M. Lubin, Chad Mandeles, Roxana Robinson, and Paul J. Staiti. The forty-nine works reproduced in full color and arranged chronologically provide the first comprehensive survey of Harnett's work. A bibliography, chronology, and thorough index add to the reference value of this handsome volume.

Presents all of the nearly 450 works of art in the White House collection

Art in the White House : A Nation's Pride

Kloss, William

white-house-historical-association

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

William M. Harnett by Bolger, Doreen (1992) Paperback [Paperback] [Jan 01, 1700] Bolger, Doreen ...

Individual Artists

Amon Carter Museum

This large-format book features the nearly 500 paintings, sculptures, and drawings in the White House collection and includes 100 full page color reproductions.

Art in the White House: A Nation's Pride

Monkman, Betty C.

Wilmerding, John.

White House Historical Assn

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bolger, Doreen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Bolger, Doreen

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bolger, Doreen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

American Impressionism and Realism The Painting of Modern Life, 1885-1915

American Impressionism and Realism: The Painting of Modern Life, 1885–1915

American Pastels in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

William M. Harnett

Art in the White House : A Nation's Pride

American Pastels in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

William M. Harnett

Art in the White House: A Nation's Pride