America's Art: Masterpieces from the Smithsonian American Art Museum [Hardcover]

Theresa J. Slowik (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2006

After being closed for several years, on July 4, 2006, The Smithsonian American Art Museum will celebrate the grand reopening of its newly restored building, home to the world's premier collection of American art. Those who cannot attend can console themselves with this magnificent volume, which puts the museum's galleries at their fingertips. Edward Hopper, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Nam June Paik are just a few of the artists represented in a book that spans all of American history and features gorgeous reproductions of works in a dazzling variety of styles and mediums, including paintings, sculpture, photography, and folk art. With text that illuminates the nation's history through examples of its art-including many rarely displayed pieces from the collection-this is one art book that belongs on every American coffee table.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The Smithsonian American Art Museum will reopen in July 2006 after a six-year renovation effort. To mark the occasion, the museum has created a capacious and colorful volume showcasing 225 diverse works from its varied and stellar collection. Expert and engaging commentary links the lushly reproduced artworks to the many-faceted story of America: its landscapes wild and cultivated, its small towns and big cities, its people indigenous and immigrant, and the myriad changes technology has instigated. Art itself has evolved in sync with changes social, political, and technological, a process clearly delineated in this stirring pageant, a procession that includes John Singleton Copley's 1765 portrait of the singularly self-possessed colonist Mrs. George Watson; George Catlin's 1832 portrait of a Native American beauty, Sha-ko-ka; Albert Bierstadt's grand 1868 vision of the Sierra Nevada; Civil War-era photographs; Berenice Abbott's photographs of 1930s New York; Jacob Lawrence's paintings of African American life; works by Edward Hopper and Willem de Kooning; and a video installation by Nam June Paik. Here is American art in all its glory and innovation as a quest for understanding and connection, and a public collection that constitutes a genuine national treasure. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Theresa J. Slowik is chief of publications at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She lives in Washington, D.C.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 324 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810955326
• ISBN-13: 978-0810955325
• Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 10.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #547,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well illustrated but little text, January 25, 2008

By 

Benjamin (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: America's Art: Masterpieces from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Paperback)

Published in 2006 to mark the Museum's reopening, this very large book of 324 pages measures 32.3cm x 26.2 cm (12.75" x 10"). The text is fairly minimal; following the Foreword and Introduction each of the sixteen chapters and has but a few paragraphs of explanatory text which very briefly outline the social and political conditions of the period under discussion. There is little if any reference to the accompanying art work illustrated - it speaks for itself. The book concludes with a catalogue of the work providing details of each piece, Notes on the text and a brief Selected Bibliography.

It is undoubtedly an impressive looking volume. It is illustrated throughout in full colour (apart from the few period black and white photographs), with many of the images full page. Paintings predominate, but there is also three-dimensional work and photography; and the book is attractively laid-out. There are 225 items pictured of what the publishers claim are the Museum's best works.

With work covering over 400 years of American art, including some very familiar but no less stunning pieces, this is a very well illustrated book. The text is surprisingly not very informative as regards the art work, but the generally chronologically arrangement is in itself interesting. A book which is certainly worth having for the illustrations alone.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful coffee table book, May 7, 2007

By 

Ramona K. Womack (Purcellville, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: America's Art: Masterpieces from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Hardcover)

This book is so beautiful and full of wonderful american art. I have purchased it for a dear friend in Europe who is a tour guide and expert in european art. I thought it would be a wonderful addition to her collection of art books.

11 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars America's Art by Slowik, June 14, 2006

By 

Joseph S. Maresca "Dr. Joseph S. Maresca CPA,... (Bronxville, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: America's Art: Masterpieces from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Hardcover)

After a 6 year restoration, the Smithsonian is slated to open this
July 4, 2006. This rendition on American Art contains priceless
reprints of famous scenes which depict ordinary households. i.e.
- The Young Moravian Girl 1755
- Mrs. James Smith and Grandson 1776
- Buffalo herds in the 1840s
- The Speculator (1852)
- Major Ballou- a letter to the wife
- The White Ballet (1904)
- High Cliff by Winslow Homer (1894)
- Saturday Evening Review (1964) by R. Buckminster Fuller

This acquisition would be perfect for Americans everywhere,
as well as a wide constituency of authors, historians and others
in general academe.