Description
Book SynopsisThe essays in the second volume on this subject examine the struggle of American artists at a time when the nation fought for political unity. The book explores how the political and economic expansion of America is often infused with efforts to reconcile goals with a European past.
Trade ReviewThese 16 separate essays probe into and beyond our generally held recognition of the prominent role Italy and Italians exerted on painters, sculptors, and architects of our new world. Palladianism--by way of England, to be sure--first touched the colonies and new republic. Here Palladianism and the following classicism in American sculpture and architecture are examined afresh. Matters of less currency include the frustrations of Rembrandt Peale and S.F.B. Morse abroad, Harriet Hosmer's problems with her Zenobia, the young Elihu Vedder as "macchiaiolo," the collectors of early Italian art--Bryan and Jarvis, the Italian sculptors and painters imported to adorn the US Capitol, and the place of "the Italianate villa" (on which further clarification is needed) in American architecture. Many of these essays pose new questions not previously addressed in the critical treatments of painters and sculptors of the period. For upper-division undergraduate and graduate students. * —Choice *
“. . . offers an unmatched combination of a well-integrated text and sumptuous illustrations.” * —Journal of the American Studies Association of Texas *
