Winslow Homer (Library of American Art) [Hardcover]

Nicolai Cikovsky (Author)

Book Description

Series: Library of American Art | Publication Date: April 1, 1990

Winslow Homer, whose work is featured on the cover of this catalog, was the greatest American painter of the 19th century. His subjects are touchingly familiar: the Civil War soldier, the country school, the emancipated slave. This volume includes a broad selection of his paintings and watercolors, each profoundly symbolic of the main currents of American life from the Civil War to th e turn of the century. 103 illustrations, including 52 plates in full color. 8 7/8 x 12. (Abrams)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Instead of Winslow Homer as unvarnished, naive democrat, an artist divorced from the intellectual life of his times, Cikovsky gives us a painter who was a modernist in his detachment, anxiety and impersonality. Plunging into New York City's seething cultural milieu in the 1860s, the Boston-born illustrator joined a loose artistic circle that included jounalist Eugene Benson, whose programmatic call for a modern, national, indigenous art struck a chord in Homer. But disillusionment set in with the corrupt Gilded Age of the 1870s, and Homer took refuge in art, plumbing nature's elemental power in his seascapes, and investigating the act of seeing in vibrant, spontaneous watercolors of the tropics or the Maine coast. His later paintings grasp death with almost mystical immediacy. Curator of American art at the National Gallery, Cikovsky lays bare new worlds of meaning in this immensely rewarding, superbly illustrated reassessment.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The 19th-century realist Winslow Homer first gained wide renown with his Civil War battlefield illustrations in Harper's Weekly. A year spent in Paris after the war led to a greater acuity of vision, and by the mid-1870s he was one of the leading progenitors of naturalism and the most celebrated American painter of his day. Known for his watercolors, which have all the intensity and ardor of the most accomplished oil paintings, the solid outlines and luminosity of his surfaces show little influence from his contemporaries the Impressionists. His art was unquestionably individual and native. He was a reclusive outdoorsman who captured dozens of scenes highlighting the milieus he loved: seafaring vessels, Adirondack and Canadian hunting grounds, Bahamian beaches, and the rocky coast of Maine, to which he retreated in his last years. This outstanding new book is the catalog of a retrospective of 235 paintings touring East Coast museums?the largest gathering of his work ever. Cikovsky and Kelly (curators of American and British art at the National Gallery of Art) divide his career into eight chronological chapters, each with a straightforward, expository essay securely planting the work in a geographical and biographical context. The format is large but unostentatious, striking the perfect balance between text and illustration. This is easily the fairest, most intelligent, and best survey to date on this popular American master.?Douglas F. Smith, Oakland P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (April 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810911930
• ISBN-13: 978-0810911932
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 9.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,422,146 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taking Winslow Homer Seriously, January 8, 2006

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winslow Homer (Hardcover)

Too often museums and writers take the prodigious output of the 19th century American artist Winslow Homer lightly, even at times dismissing him as inconsequential in the mainstream of important art. This magnificent volume whould change that once and for all.

Essayists and curators Nicolai Cikovsky and Franklin Kelly, with significant contributions by writers Judith Walsh and Charles Brock, have not only created a superb collection of Homer's works in all media, they have also taken the time to reevaluate Homer in terms of his place among his colleagues of his day, his subsequent isolationism when he communicated with nature along the coast of Maine, creating come of the most mystically beautiful works form an American artist, and an overview of how history has treated him.

The result is a hefty volume with more valuable insights and well written essays that for once truly illuminate the images generously placed throughout the volume. This may have started out to be a catalogue to accompany a traveling exhibition, but its long shelf life is assured by the high quality of every aspect of the book. Highly recommended for art lovers and art historians alike. Grady Harp, January 06

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Winslow Homer, A 'GEM' for the Serious Art Student, March 18, 2001

By 

Angela Lo Tufo (Hobe Sound, Fl.formerly N.Y.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winslow Homer (Paperback)

As an Art student, venturing into watercolor recently, I received this book as a gift. I truly gained much information about the artist and the additon of color plates (90+) make this a complete reference guide. The author has separatedhis works into catogories by subject matter.The intro- duction reviews his travels, family life,interests,educa-tion,recognition and awardsduring his lifetime. A brief review proceeds each Chapterwhich then is visually supp-orted by wonderflul,colorful plates of Winslow works of that subject. The Chapters are Civil War, Sea PaintingsTropics, Adirondonck and Canada, and Prout's Neck,Me. He was an extraordinarypainter of various mediums,and always captured the 'atmosphere' in his workswhether it was stormy seasoff the coast of Maine, placid lakes in the mountains, clear skies in the tropics or children at play at that time. Fortunately, he was an artist who was noticed during his lifetime and rewarded with fame before his demise at age 74, having enjoyed his love of his work. I would highly recommend this hard cover version, to any art lover or student of the arts. I will plan to purchase this publication for my son, and perhaps a friend in the near future.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Winslow Homer, A 'GEM' for the Serious Art Student, March 18, 2001

By 

Angela Lo Tufo (Hobe Sound, Fl.formerly N.Y.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winslow Homer (Paperback)

As an Art student, venturing into watercolor recently, I received this book as a gift. I truly gained much information about the artist and the additon of color plates (90+) make this a complete reference guide. The author has separatedhis works into catogories by subject matter.The intro- duction reviews his travels, family life,interests,educa-tion,recognition and awardsduring his lifetime. A brief review proceeds each Chapterwhich then is visually supp-orted by wonderflul,colorful plates of Winslow works of that subject. The Chapters are Civil War, Sea PaintingsTropics, Adirondonck and Canada, and Prout's Neck,Me. He was an extraordinarypainter of various mediums,and always captured the 'atmosphere' in his workswhether it was stormy seasoff the coast of Maine, placid lakes in the mountains, clear skies in the tropics or children at play at that time. Fortunately, he was an artist who was noticed during his lifetime and rewarded with fame before his demise at age 74, having enjoyed his love of his work. I would highly recommend this hard cover version, to any art lover or student of the arts. I will plan to purchase this publication for my son, and perhaps a friend in the near future.