Pennsylvania Impressionism [Hardcover]

Brian H. Peterson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 27, 2002

American Impressionism was a movement deeply rooted in the American soil. Artists often spurned the cities, living and working in the numerous art colonies that sprang up throughout the country in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. One of the best known of these colonies formed in 1898 on the banks of the Delaware River north of Philadelphia, centered in the picturesque village of New Hope, Bucks County. Known as the Pennsylvania impressionists, this group of artists played a dominant role in the American art world of the 1910s and 1920s, winning major awards and sitting on prestigious exhibition juries. Their work was celebrated for its freedom from European influence, and was praised by the noted painter and critic Guy Pene du Bois as "our first truly national expression."

Many of the Pennsylvania impressionists both studied and taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and their stylistic roots hearkened back to the "academy realism" practiced by Thomas Eakins and his followers. Edward Redfield was the generally acknowledged stylistic leader of the New Hope painters; his vigorously realistic, unsentimental brand of impressionism influenced several generations of artists associated with the group. However, what most characterized Pennsylvania impressionism was not a single, unified style but rather the emergence of many mature, distinctive voices: Daniel Garber's luminous, poetic renditions of the Delaware River; Fern Coppedge's colorful village scenes; Robert Spencer's lyrical views of mills and tenements; John Folinsbee's moody, expressionistic snowscapes; and William L. Lathrop's deeply felt, evocative Bucks County vistas.

Pennsylvania impressionist artwork is now widely collected, and many works in private hands are shown here, as well as the holdings of the James A. Michener Museum, recognized as the most extensive public collection. Pennsylvania Impressionism explores in comprehensive and sumptuous detail this important American movement. Principally authored by the Michener's Senior Curator Brian H. Peterson, the book contains additional essays by art historians William H. Gerdts, Professor Emeritus of Art History at the City University of New York, and Sylvia Yount, Margaret and Terry Stent Curator of American Art at the High Museum in Atlanta. Also included are biographies of more than 75 artists and extensive color reproductions of their work. Intended for both a general audience and aficionados, this book will become the principal source for information about this important branch of American impressionism.

Also of Interest—

The Cities, the Towns, the Crowds
The Paintings of Robert Spencer
Brian H. Peterson

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A lasting contribution to American art history. . . . Well written, thorough, and organized with admirable attention to quality reproductions and portraits of leading artists, this book ought to spark increasing interest in the art and artists of Pennsylvania."—American Arts Quarterly

"A beautifully produced and informative research tool recommended for art history libraries and collectors and appreciators of the New Hope school."—Maine Antique Digest

"This magnificent new book . . . has assembled a definitive collection of impressionistic works from the Bucks Country region of eastern Pennsylvania. . . . Editor Brian Peterson, together with art historians Sylvia Yount and William H. Gerdts, provides a complete history of the movement. . . . Excellent!"—Bloomsbury Review

About the Author

Brian H. Peterson is Senior Curator at the James A. Michener Art Museum and has more than twenty years of experience as a curator, critic, artist, and arts administrator in the Philadelphia area.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (September 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812237005
• ISBN-13: 978-0812237009
• Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 9.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #237,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Post-Impressionism

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A full-color compendium of fantastic artworks, December 8, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pennsylvania Impressionism (Hardcover)

Compiled and edited by Brian H. Peterson (Senior Curator, James A. Michener Art Museum, Bucks County, Pennsylvania), and enhanced with informative essays by William H. Gerdts (Professor Emeritus of Art History, Graduate School of the City University of New York), and Sylvia Yount (The Margaret and Terry Stent Curator of American Art at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia), with additional contributions by Erika Jaeger Smith, Constance Kimmerle, Mary O'Brien, Birgitta H. Bond, and Tricia Fagan, Pennsylvania Impressionism is a stunningly impressive, full-color compendium of fantastic artworks, enhanced with an erudite and knowledgeable commentary about the impressionistic styles Pennsylvanian artists and how they uniquely captured the land and its people. Brief biographies of great Impressionistic artists who lived in and painted Pennsylvania, thoughts on emotional works presented for the reader's enjoyment, state history, and much, much more combine to make Pennsylvania Impressionism both a gorgeous and unforgettable coffeetable artbook, as well as an essential addition to personal or academic American Art History collections.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Patched with colour, January 13, 2007

By 

Chris "Chris Walker" (Stirling, Stirlingshire Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pennsylvania Impressionism (Hardcover)

I'm an amateur painter and a regular subscriber to American Art Review where I've seen frequent references to Fern Coppedge's paintings. I just fell in love with her colourful work and looked on Google for a single book about her work but alas, there doesn't seem to be such a book. So, I Googled up a booklist and hit on this title, though I love the work of Edgar Payne and Birger Sandzen too. Colour is my own credo and this massive hardback gives plenty. I'd heard of Redfield, Folinsbee and Lathrop but not of Kenneth Nunamaker or Clarence Johnson. The book is bursting with snowscenes like Nunamaker's "Winter Fog" a minimalist view of a sluggish river in slate greys, olive greens and navy blues. Amongst the numerous colour plates, the oils in some of the Redpaths and Coppedges seem to ooze off the page and are visually edible. The potted biographies and wee articles on the many artists are by different experts and I shall be dipping into this beezer of a book time and again. The American impressionists started up slightly after the European school but I think their work is more realistic, darker, and maybe more realistic with reference to mankind in the works I've seen. I'm also a keen viewer of the Canadian Group of Seven, that's me - an old reactionary!

If you like this you'll like: J. Driscoll and A. Skolnick: The Artist and the American Landscape published by First Glance Books, Cobb, Cal. 1998 and

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection published by McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., Ontario paperback 1989.

I do hope you can put this in your review pages as I so enjoy having this book: I'm in remission from bone cancer and, while I'm able to drive again, am unable to travel abroad and see these paintings at first hand.

Fiona Ross

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wide net, April 14, 2005

By 

Brad Teare (Providence, Utah, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pennsylvania Impressionism (Hardcover)

This book has what every art lover wants most in an art book; lots of large, well reproduced color images. This book is replete with them. There is also something for every taste. If you love American impressionism buy this book.