A captivating look at Coney Island and its iconic place in the history of American art Called “America’s playground,” Coney Island is a world-famous resort and national cultural symbol that has inspired music, literature, and films. This groundbreaking book is the first to look at the site’s enduring status as inspiration for artists throughout the ages, from its inception as an elite seaside resort in the mid-19th century, to its evolution into an entertainment mecca for the masses, with the eventual closing of its iconic amusement park, Astroland, in 2008 after decades of urban decline. How artists chose to portray Coney Island between 1861 and 2008—in tableaux of wonder and menace, hope and despair, dreams and nightmares—mirrored the aspirations and disappointments of the era. This dazzling catalogue highlights more than 200 images from Coney Island’s history, including paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, posters, film stills, architectural artifacts, and carousel animals. An extraordinary array of artists is represented, from George Bellows, William Merritt Chase, Reginald Marsh, and Joseph Stella to Diane Arbus, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Robert Frank, Red Grooms, Weegee, and Swoon. Essays by prominent scholars analyze Coney Island through its imagery and ephemera as both a place and an idea—one that reflected the collective soul of the nation.

Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861–2008

Arts & Photography

Frank, Robin Jaffee

History & Criticism

Yale University Press

Celebrating two collectors’ passion for Americana and the window it provides into the everyday beauty of the past Becoming America offers a multifaceted view of one of the foremost collections of 18th- and 19th-century American folk and decorative art from the rural Northeast. Essays by leading specialists discuss the culture of furniture workshops, exuberant painted decoration, techniques of sewing and quilting, and poignant stories about the families depicted in the portraits. The collection itself includes Shaker boxes, a beaded Iroquois hat, embroidered samplers, metalwork, scrimshaw, handwoven rugs, ceramics, and a weather vane. The majority of these works have never before been published. With lively essays and profuse illustrations, this handsome volume brings to life the aesthetic of early Americans living in the countryside and is an essential exploration of the period’s taste and style.

Becoming America: Highlights from the Jonathan and Karin Fielding Collection of Folk Art

Nielsen, Christina

DEMOS, JOHN

Hollander, Stacy C.

Warren, Elizabeth V.

Fielding, Jonathan

Fielding, Karin

Priddy III, Sumpter

Wheatcroft, David

Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Charles Demuth Poster Portraits, 1923-1929

Yale University Art Gallery

Demuth, Charles

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Arthur Schwartz Sales Co

Love and Loss American Portrait and Mourning Miniatures

Themes

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Books by Frank, Robin Jaffee