Synopses & Reviews
With its emphasis on social reform and simplicity in design---bold lines, honest use of materials, and redeeming qualities of handmade goods---the Arts and Crafts movement offered an antidote to the perceived ills of a rapidly changing world and the ornate and artificial Victorian aesthetic of the late 19th century. In the first years of the 20th century, the movement was popularized in the United States through the efforts of Gustav Stickley (1858 1942), a businessman who promoted a progressive American style and the ideal of the simple life through the efforts of his furniture factory and publication,
The Craftsman.Gustav Stickley and the American Arts & Crafts Movement accompanies the first nationally touring exhibition of Stickleys work and explores his dual roles as a visionary business leader and enthusiastic proselytizer of design reform. The full range of Stickleys workshops is illuminated, including more than 100 objects of furniture, metalwork, and textiles, as well as architectural drawings and related designs, many of which are previously unpublished. Essays by distinguished contributors provide diverse viewpoints on the Arts and Crafts movement and Stickley's evolving role as tastemaker, and the often contradictory messages conveyed through the construction and promotion of his designers works.
This handsome volume provides fascinating new insight into the dramatic transformation of a factory owner into one of the leading figures of the American Arts and Crafts movement.
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Perfect Likeness showcases the largest collection of miniatures in the U.S. . . . "
Booklist -- Library Journal
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"The Metropolitan Museums superb collection of early colonial furniture is expertly documented in this outstanding compilation of stunning photographs and detailed text."New England Antiques Journal -- Elizabeth M. Nuxoll
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"A substantial volume. . . . It is illustrated with a profusion of prime examples demonstrating the wide range of fascinating objects by this extraordinary sect."Linda Rosenkrantz, Metropolitan News-Enterprise -- Joseph C. Miller - New West Indian Guide
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"It is a story as full of intrigue as an Italian Renaissance poisoning, but the books real story is still in the engaging simplicity displayed in the pictures."Antiques -- Choice
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'\"Charles Rohlfs . . . was active as [a] furniture designer for a relatively short time, but his influence has been quite extensive. This erudite and comprehensive biographical catalog explains how.\"Maine Antique Digest -- Antiques'
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'\"Seductive visuals and worthy scholarship.\"Town & Country -- Maine Antique Digest'
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'\". . . [A] wealth of color and information. . . . a remarkably vivid portrait of a unique talent flourishing at one of those extraordinarily adventurous periods of transition . . . when there was a belief that design and art could transform society.\" Interior Design Magazine -- Town and Country'
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“A stunning array of folk masterpieces”—Paul S. DAmbrosio, Antiques and Fine Art Paul S. D'Ambrosio
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and#8220;A richly visual, painstakingly assembled tribute to the accidental genius of vernacular art.and#8221;and#8212;Laura Beach, Antiques and the Arts Weekly
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and#8220;...keeps words and pictures in balance, offering further excursions into an outstanding private collection...the essays proceed in close-up, singling out individual objects and the people who made or used them, often with fresh and revelatory specificity.and#8221;and#8212;Roberta Smith, New York Times (Holiday Gift Guide selection)
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and#8220;A journey through one of the most exquisite collections of Americana . . . a monumental achievement . . . a volume that all serious books about the decorative arts should aspire to. Its visual narrative and written cadence create a sentimental journey accompanied by the most necessary of traveling companions: thoughtfulness and critical reflection.and#8221;and#8212;Joanne Molina, The Curated Object
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“This book, like its companion volume, is essential for anyone interested in American folk art, Shaker craft, early American furniture, and Native American artistry.”—San Francisco Book Review Joanne Molina - The Curated Object
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and#8220;Splendid . . . essential to any serious library of Americana and decorative arts.and#8221;and#8212;Barrymore Laurence Scherer, The Magazine Antiques
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and#8220;Full of nuggets of information that make for good armchair reading . . . [and] brilliant photographs.and#8221;and#8212;Lita Solis Cohen, Maine Antique Digest
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and#8220;Intriguing . . . fascinating . . . will satisfy even the most astute folk art collector and stoke the curiosity of any history buff. . . . An essential volume for a library of early Americana.and#8221;and#8212;Julie Carlson Wildfeuer, American Fine Art
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and#8220;A stunning array of folk masterpiecesand#8221;and#8212;Paul S. Dand#8217;Ambrosio, Antiques and Fine Art
Synopsis
Diminutive marvels of artistry and fine craftsmanship, portrait miniatures reveal a wealth of information within their small frames. They can tell tales of cultural history and biography, of people and their passions, of evolving tastes in jewelry, fashion, hairstyles, and the decorative arts. Unlike many other genres, miniatures have a tradition in which amateurs and professionals have operated in parallel and women artists have flourished as professionals.
This richly illustrated book presents approximately 180 portrait miniatures selected from the holdings of the Cincinnati Art Museum, the largest and most diverse collection of its kind in North America. The book stresses the continuity of stylistic tradition across Europe and America as well as the vitality of the portrait miniature format through more than four centuries. A detailed catalogue entry, as well as a concise artist biography, appears for each object. Essays examine various aspects of miniature painting, of the depiction of costume in miniatures, and of the allied art of hair work.
Synopsis
The Metropolitan Museums preeminent collection of early colonial furniture is expertly documented in this long-awaited publication. It covers the full spectrum of furniture forms made during the 17th and early 18th centuriesfrom chairs and other seating to tables, boxes, various types of chests and cupboards, and desks. Each of the 141 objects is thoroughly described with detailed information on provenance, construction, condition, inscriptions, dimensions, and materials. Photographed anew in color for this volume, each piece is explicated in terms of the styles and craftsmanship of the period and is evaluated in light of comparative pieces in public and private collections throughout the country. One appendix contains photographic details of construction and decorative elements, and another has drawings of joints and moldings.
Synopsis
American folk art and decorative arts from the early years of the Republic are telling indicators of family traditions, aesthetic values, and household customs of the young nation. Showing us how creative and consumer cultures from the old world were transformed in the new,
Expressions of Innocence and Eloquence presents more than two hundred examples of American folk art and decorative arts created in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia in the 18th and 19th centuries. Drawn from the extraordinary Jane Katcher Collection, the book features familiar expressions of American folk artportraits and carvings, quilts and needlework, weathervanes and whirligigs, family records and calligraphy, ceramics, furniture, baskets, and toysas well as the unexpectedvalentines, friendship albums, and keepsakes woven from the hair of loved ones.
A distinguished group of scholars discuss these objects within the context of historical, economic, and social issues as well as aesthetics.. There are also explorations of craft methods and artistic strategies practiced by the artists and artisans represented in the collection. Separate essays on the Shaker and the Pennsylvania-German communities concentrate on the unique features of their material cultures and their religious and social orientations. With more than 100 previously unpublished works, this generously illustrated book is essential for anyone interested in American folk art or decorative arts.
Synopsis
Reaching an apogee of 6,000 members in the years just before the Civil War, the Shaker movement was the most extensive, enduring, and successful utopian society ever established in America. Leaving Manchester, England, in 1776 to avoid persecution, the Shakers crossed the Atlantic and during the next 50 years established 19 villages from Maine to Kentucky.
The Shakers were guided by the principles of utility, honesty, and order in both their work and worship, and this belief system influenced the physical expression of the goods they produced for use at home and for sale outside their communities. This lovely book presents a wide array of extraordinarily fine examples of Shaker furniture, household objects, textiles, religious drawings, and items made to sell to the worlds people” (non-Shakers). The books expert contributors discuss Shaker design in relation to the furniture they constructed, the products they sold, their gift drawings and spirituality, and their rejection of American Fancy design. The book also considers the powerful inspiration Shaker design has provided for diverse modern and contemporary designers, including George Nakashima, Roy McMakin, Thomas Moser, and Scandinavian furniture makers.
Synopsis
Struck by the beauty of every visible object in a Shaker kitchen they chanced to visit in 1923, young Edward Deming Andrews and his wife, Faith Young Andrews, embarked on a collection that became the passion of their lives. During the following decades, at a time when the art and artifacts of the Shakers were considered low” art and unworthy of collecting or exhibiting, the Andrewses energetically collected objects, studied sources, and eventually mounted exhibits and published books on Shaker culture.
This beautiful book is the first to document their unparalleled collection, presenting some 600 photographs, most never before published. In addition, the book brings to light the extraordinary story of the Andrewses collecting and scholarship, their relationships with members of the United Society of Believers (commonly called Shakers) and with important New York City art-world figures of the 1930s, as well as their contributions toward the birth of the field of Shaker Studies. More than passionate collectors, Edward and Faith Andrews were intent on saving a distinct culture, and their accomplishment was to preserve for future generations the most comprehensive body of knowledge ever assembled about the Shakers.
Synopsis
Charles Rohlfs (18531936) ranked among the most innovative furniture makers at the turn of the twentieth century. Praised by the international press and exhibited throughout the United States and Europe, his beautiful works grew out of an interesting mix of styles that included Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, and proto-modernism. This book presents the first major study of this important American designer and craftsman, drawing upon new photographs and fresh sources of information.
Alongside traditional historical approaches, the book presents detailed formal, structural, and stylistic analyses of Rohlfss well-known masterpieces from major museums, together with lesser-known objects in public and private collections. Topics include discovering the contribution of Rohlfss wifemystery novelist Anna Katharine Greento his designs; the far-ranging sources of his idiosyncratic motifs; his influence on Gustav Stickleys designs; his commissioned interiors; his efforts at self-promotion and marketing; and his attempts to define a conceptual framework for his artistic endeavor. Handsomely designed and illustrated, the book also features a complete set of unpublished period illustrations of over seventy works.
Synopsis
This volume catalogues the worlds most comprehensive collection of American portrait miniatures, ranging in date from the early 18th to the 20th century and representing 155 artists. Jewel-like and intimate, the pieces portray spouses, children, and other loved ones and were usually created for personal use. The Museums collection is also significant for its self-portraits by artists and for portraits of notable public figures. Each of the nearly six hundred works is illustrated and described in detail, and a biography and bibliography are provided for each artist. Two essays chart the history of the collection and the stylistic development of casework and lockets.
Synopsis
Newly Available from Yale
This handsome book showcases the Metropolitan Museums superb collection of 151 American quilts and coverlets. First published in 1990 and revised in 2007 to feature 32 new acquisitions and updated scholarship, this volume chronicles the development of quilt and coverlet production in the United States from the 18th through the 20th centuries, provides a glimpse into the lives of the makers and recipients of these pieces, and discusses their emergence as works of art.
Notable pieces include the Phebe Warner and the Baltimore Presentation coverlets, Amish, Crazy, and Honeycomb quilts that exemplify achievement in abstract and geometric patterns, along with the Adeline Harris Sears Autograph Quilt, a memorial to the greatest politicians, composers, authors, and thinkers of the mid-19th century. Each work is catalogued with a description and essential information on materials, condition, publications, and references. Also included is an illustrated survey of materials and techniques used in the creation of these works.
Synopsis
This handsome book, the secondand#160;volume of selections from the Jane Katcher Collection,and#160;presents a superlative group of American folk and decorative arts created primarily in New England, New York, and Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries. Itand#160;contains more than one hundred recent acquisitions, including a masterpiece of American basketry woven in Nevada by the renowned Louise Keyser (also known as Dat So La Lee) in 1913.
Familiar categories of Americanaand#8212;portraits, quilts, weathervanes, boxes, trade signs, miniature portraits, schoolgirl art, furniture, and Shaker objectsand#8212;are joined here by new directions in collecting, represented by objects such as love tokens, friendship albums, and rewards of merit. Noted scholars discuss the historical, economic, and social context in which the objects were created, as well as their aesthetic qualities and their makers' craft methods. Lavishly illustrated with 470 color illustrations, this book, like its companion volume, is essential for anyone interested in American folk art, Shaker craft, early American furniture, and Native American artistry.
About the Author
Jane Katcher is a retired pediatric radiologist and distinguished arts patron.
David A. Schorsch is a specialist in fine American antiques and folk art.
Ruth Wolfe is an editor and writer in the field of American folk art.
Jean M. Burks is Curator of Decorative Arts at the Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont.
Paul S. DAmbrosio is Vice President and Chief Curator of the New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown.
Erin Eisenbarth is Acting Assistant Curator of American Decorative Arts,
Robin Jaffee Frank is Associate Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture, and
Patricia E. Kane, is Curator of American Decorative Arts, all at the Yale University Art Gallery.
Robert Hunter is a historical archaeologist and editor of
Ceramics in America.
Richard Miller is former curator of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, Williamsburg, Virginia.
Charles Santore is author of
The Windsor Style in America.
Robert Shaw is former curator of the Shelburne Museum.
Scott T. Swank is Executive Director of Heritage Museums and Gardens, Sandwich, Massachusetts.
Philip Zea is President of Historic Deerfield, Massachusetts.
Eileen M. Smiles is a folk and decorative arts specialist.