West of the Imagination (The Companion to the PBS Series) [Hardcover]

William H. Goetzmann (Author), William N. Goetzmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2, 1987

The dramatic story of the American frontier as seen through the imaginations of stunning Western artists such as Catlin, Remington, and Georgia O'Keeffe. 200 illustrations, 160 in full color.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The explorer-artists who documented the American West were obsessed and determined. George Catlin lived on borrowed money and sales of "souvenir albums" while fulfilling his dream of recording vanishing Native American cultures. "Blond giant" Frederic Remington, a failed Kansas sheepherder, became the primary mythmaker of the Old West, portraying its trappers, punchers and vaqueros and elevating the cowboy to an epic hero. Swiss view-painter Karl Bodmer, in search of a "savage America," risked his life to paint bloody Indian battles and explore Mississippi steamboat culture. With 370 plates, nearly half in color, this companion volume to an upcoming PBS-TV series glorifies the legends of the Wild West even as it dissects them. Artists of European descent who recorded Hispanic settlements in the Southwest are highlighted. The authorsWilliam H. Goetzmann is a Pulitzer Prizewinning historian; William N. Goetzmann is a museum curatoralso trace the role of filmmakers in shaping the popular image of the frontier.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This handsome volume by the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and his son complements the recent PBS series of the same name. In relating the lives of the artists of the American West, the social and cultural climate during which they worked, and their individual thoughts and feelings, the authors reveal the fascinating dynamic which exists between artist and subject. From the early 1800s to the present, they recount the lives of both major and minor artists in an entertaining style. Strict aesthetic judgments are kept to a minimum; the focus is on how these men and women influenced and were influenced by the times in which they lived, continually shaping and defining the public's perception of the American West. For general collections. Frank Schroth, Technology Training Assocs., Cambridge, Mass.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 476 pages
• Publisher: WW Norton & Co; First edition (December 2, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393023702
• ISBN-13: 978-0393023701
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,209,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The second edition of a landmark publication on western American art, April 10, 2009

By 

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

This review is from: The West of the Imagination (Hardcover)

The second edition of a landmark publication on western American art has been thoroughly revised to expand on the original, packing in nearly five hundred images in color and black and white, including over 150 new ones. Using these illustrations the authors discuss the changing myth of the West, from values to art, using art as a medium for discussing the West's evolving image. It will appeal not just to art history holdings at the college level, but to any collection strong in American history and Western history in particular.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, March 1, 2001

By 

C. A. McEachern (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: West of the Imagination (Paperback)

I first read this book as a student in Dr. Goetzmann's undergraduate class at the University of Texas at Austin. Although not an Art History major, this is the best course I have ever taken. The book is an excellent compilation of the influence of History/Culture on the Art of the American West. There is also a PBS series which accompanies this book. I highly recommend both. I keep this book on my coffee table, and enjoy reading it regularly.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The role of artists in mythologizing the West, August 15, 2002

By 

Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: West of the Imagination (Paperback)

As of this writing (Aug. 2002) this fine book is out of print, and shouldn't be. It is an informative and well illustrated survey covering almost 200 years of pictorial representations of the American frontier.

Because of my interest in the mythology that developed around the cowboy, I found the chapters on Frederic Remington, Charley Russell, and Buffalo Bill Cody especially absorbing. Magazine illustrators who further developed imagery of the "wild west" are represented here in discussions of N. C. Wyeth and Maynard Dixon.

On a parallel track, the authors give a chapter to the early silent Westerns, highlighting the careers and contributions of Tom Mix and William S. Hart (a precursor of Clint Eastwood). Another chapter is devoted to the Hollywood Western during the sound era noting similarities between Remington's imagery and that of director John Ford. There's also a discussion of the evolution of western movie themes from "The Virginian" (1929) to "The Ballad of Cable Hogue" (1969).

This book is a rewarding study of the American West as its visual artists inspired the imaginations of people around the world. Definitely worth having.