Customer Reviews

American Realism

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Edward Lucie-Smith's inimitable style of writing endears him to his readers who might just be buying art books for the pictures - the ubiquitous coffeetable book. His approach to his subject (and his catalogue of published books on art is staggering in scope) is always 'Art first, Opinion second', which is another way of saying that he lets the work describe itself in the sensitive way in which he constructs his books.

AMERICAN REALISM is as much a sociological study of the American progress as it is a matrix to etch images that accompany that historical trek. In his fine introduction he sets the tone for the journey, then addresses early American art and begins his intensive presentation with the works of Thomas Eakins and Winslow Homer. Subsequent chapters find new insights into American Still Life, the Impressists in America (Cassatt, Sargent, Chase, Hassam), then proceeds on through the Ashcan School, Regionalism (one of the most creative chapters), through the Urban and Social Realism of the likes of Hopper, Marsh, Soyer and Shahn. Here his style of writing diverges as he addresses the Revolution in American Art, or, what has America made that is uniquely her own. Of great interest here is his emphasis on painters such as Paul Cadmus, Philip Guston, Jared French, George Tooker, Andrew Wyeth, bringing to their works a sensitivity rarely written prior to this book. After Abstraction he once again returns to representational art and brings to life Fairfield Porter, Neil Welliver, Jane Freilicher, Larry Rivers, Richard Diebenkorn,Wayne Thiebaud, Chuck Close, John Nava, Alice Neel, Gregory Gillespie, Martha Mayer Erlebacher, Eric Fischl, Leon Golub, and yes, even Jeff Koons.

The sparkling and informative dialogue of this book is enhanced by superb reproductions of paintings in both color and black and white. This book is somewhat dated now, having been published in 1994 and newly released in paperback. One hopes that Lucie-Smith will write a sequel to this volume and bring the public up to date with the many artists who belong in this company, artists - like Wes Hempel, Gerard Huber, Michael Workman, Wade Reynolds, James Doolin, Willaim Fogg, Robert Peterson, Daniel Sprick..........and of course countless others. A 'must have' for any solid library.

One of the myths of "realism" is that it is somehow less challenging than non-representational art. This terrific book takes on the broad sweep of American Realism from the Civil War through 1990. The book is full of wonderful images from so many different styles that the reader can begin to see that what is called realistic or representational has its own symbolic language and is full of its own abstractions and distortions of trying to represent aspects of our four dimensional world on a two dimensional surface.

The book is full of paintings of all types and styles within this broad topic. There are also photographs of related sculpture and even photographs that are themselves the work of art. The images contained in the book range from the sublime, to the odd and strange, through the raunchy and vulgar.

The text is lively, insightful, and adds a great deal to the reader's understanding of the images included.

According to the dust jacket flyleaf this is "surprisingly the first (book) on the subject". Following the introduction sixteen chapters discuss various aspects of American realism in art starting with the American Revolution, and along the way look at American Impressionism, The Ashcen School, Precisionism, Americna Scene Painting, Urban Realism, Photorealism and Postmodern Realism. the study includes notes to the text, a bibliography, list of illustrations and an index.

Among the artists considered are Edward Hopper, Thomas Eakins, Mary Cassatt, Thomas Hart Benson, Georgia O'Keeffe, Andrew Wyeth, Fairfield Porter, Jeff Koons, Alice Neel, Philip Pearlstein, Eric Fischl, Richard Estes, David Park, Elmer Bischoff, Richard Diebenkorn, Paul Cadmus, Reginald Marsh, Charles Sheeler, George Bellows, Duane Hanson, and Thomas Anshutz to name just a few.

In the extensive and knowledgeable yet very accessible text as one would expect from Edward Lucie-Smith follows the development and influences of American Realism, and includes a background on each artist discussed. The book is well illustrated throughout with 215 pictures, 115 in full colour, they vary in size from the quite small to a number full-page in size. The illustrations run with the text so that they appear alongside any mention of them in the text.

This is a beautifully produced book on quality paper, the colour images are first class,, it is a shame that they are in the minority, albeit just, although it must be admitted that the black and white images are also of exceptionally high quality.

I am sorry that this review is going to be so skimpy on content. I recently became interested in the Red Cross in World War II. This book is not only the definitive one on the subject, it is also a great one. I purchased two copies via Amazon, read it, and loved it. Unfortunately, I was so excited about it that I lent out both of my copies. I received one of them back today and will reread it. Then I will write a real review.
As you no doubt know, the Red Cross performed many necessary and important functions during the war, but I bet that you did not know all of the different things that it did or the wide range of places served.
It is a good read on a relatively obscure subject. I highly recommend this book if you are at all interested in World War II history.

For anyone interested in WWII, anyone who has anything to do with the American Red Cross, needing an awareness of The Greatest Generation or just to be enriched. Letters home, reports from the front, and personal accounts are all included from outposts around the world served by the brave and heroic men and women of the ARC. Had no idea of the incredible work they did in so many different ways and so many different locations. A great overall summary of the different theaters and campaigns in WWII is included.