Judy Chicago, An American Vision [Hardcover]

Edward Lucie-Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2000

A prodigious body of work that has transformed perceptions of women’s art and collaborative venture is fully scrutinized in the first book to cover the entire scope of an astonishing and influential career.



One of the most controversial artists of our time, Judy Chicago is most famous for her groundbreaking installations The Dinner Party, Birth Project, and Holocaust Project. While these works have been analyzed extensively from artistic and historical perspectives, this book’s in-depth discussion also embraces many of the artist’s lesser-known pieces. Using a great variety of techniques, from drawing, painting, and printmaking to needlework and sculpture, her search for a personal means of expression is examined through lavish illustrations and edifying text.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Judy Chicago (1939-) is something of a celebrity--she was voted 1973's "Woman of the Year" by Mademoiselle--and she has written two popular autobiographies documenting her artistic consciousness-raising. Many still remember her California installation piece, the accompanying performance Womanhouse (1972), and especially the notorious The Dinner Party (1979). She has been working industriously for these many years, producing several large-scale multimedia pieces that have not garnered such broad attention. Most of her artworks are "projects," calling on her organizational skills to persuade many people with no fine arts background to carry out her vision. The prolific Lucie-Smith, who has lately coauthored a book with Chicago (Women and Art: Contested Territory, LJ 9/1/99), presents many of these lesser-known pieces as well as the blockbusters and does a good job of offering a contemporary view of the artist. This handsome monograph, containing 275 illustrations, 240 in color, is recommended as an interesting, fact-filled tome for most serious collections and large public collections.
-Mary Hamel-Schwulst, Towson Univ., MD
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Inspired by his coauthorship with Chicago in Women and Art , Lucie-Smith has composed the first book-length study of Chicago that focuses on her work rather than on her role as a feminist icon. He connects Chicago to Georgia O'Keeffe and Thomas Hart Benton, then launches a groundbreaking assessment of her mastery of diverse techniques--from pyrotechnics to china painting and tapestry design--as well as her fascination with medieval art and the use of symbols to teach moral doctrines and her "longing for religious transcendence." Known best for her installation The Dinner Party, which has been praised and maligned with equal passion, Chicago has broken every tenet of fine art by utilizing what are considered women's crafts, working with collaborators, and creating overtly political statements in explorations of such volatile subjects as female sexuality and the Holocaust. A true original, Chicago has touched people all around the world who have little interest in the contemporary art scene but who care deeply about life. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill; 1st edition (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823025853
• ISBN-13: 978-0823025855
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,434,001 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book full of amazing art, August 10, 2010

By 

Rick Forrester "A shaman" (Hoboken, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Judy Chicago, An American Vision (Hardcover)

This is a beautiful book full of large, full color reproductions including quite a few fold-outs. It spans the complete career of Judy Chicago, who is a very under-appreciated artist, in my opinion. If you only are familiar with the Dinner Party, you don't know her best work. This book is worth checking out!

5.0 out of 5 stars Tiny retrospective, February 20, 2011

By 

Elise (plt) (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Judy Chicago, An American Vision (Hardcover)

Judy Chicago's Dinner Party became iconic- it is most reproduced work of art of the second half on XXc.And I am glad this installation gets so much exposure,(after being in storage for such a long time), but there is more about Judy Chicago. This book shows her range, but of course before the year 2000. Judy Chicago was one of the pioneers of feminist art, which so many people find challenging even today, but Chicago uses visual vocabulary which is accessible, even to wider audiences, I dare to say.Her art has simplicity of folk art, depth of mythology, and critic Edward Lucie Smith does wonderful job to make this particular artist "explained," as Lucie Smith is a critic with unusual gift of writing in a very accessible way.I am very pleased to see a book about Judy Chicago, which I hope will make this artist more known, not only among art world people and scholars, but also general audience. After all Chicago is concerned with the society as whole, and her aim is not to be elitist, but to bring as much awarness as possible.She is one of the grass root artists, instead of ivory tower types. (Don't get me wrong, ivory towers are needed too,as strange as it seems). I hope this book will make Judy Chicago better known, not only as an important part of the history of XXc. art, but also issues in the history of Western art will be more discussed, and what was neglected will be more visible.