Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This innovative introduction examines the profession of the nineteenth-century American artist and audience reception of their work. Works of art by familiar names such as Thomas Eakins and Winslow Homer are discussed in detail within the larger arena of visual culture, as are key works by recently discovered artists such as Harriet Hosmer. The thematic approach focuses on portraiture, landscape painting, the American West, and commemorative art, then goes on to examine the ways in which painters responded to major social and economic changes resulting from the rapid transformation from an agriculturally-based former colony to an industrialized imperial power with an evolving democracy.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Acknowledgments (p. vi)
• Introduction (p. 1)
• Chapter 1 The Profession of the Artist (p. 7)
• Chapter 2 Portraiture (p. 35)
• Chapter 3 The Early Nineteenth Century: Democratic Models (p. 61)
• Chapter 4 The Late Nineteenth Century: Democracy at Work (p. 85)
• Chapter 5 Landscape (p. 117)
• Chapter 6 The American West (p. 145)
• Chapter 7 Memory and Myth: Commemorative Art (p. 173)
• Notes (p. 195)
• Timeline (p. 204)
• Further Reading (p. 207)
• Art Collections and Websites (p. 217)
• Picture Credits (p. 221)
• Index (p. 227)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

This latest addition to the Oxford "History of Art" series is no less a gem than most of its predecessors. Groseclose (art history, Ohio State Univ.) presents an intelligent and penetrating survey of 19th-century American art that not only imparts an understanding of the major aspects but also questions the historical interpretations of American artistic intent and result. Major and lesser-known artists are presented under a thematic arrangement that examines portraiture, landscape painting, the American West, democracy, and commemorative art. Throughout, Groseclose places the art and artists firmly in the larger context of a politically and economically tumultuous America with a changing visual culture. Lavishly illustrated and solidly packed, the work contains a further reading list as well as a selection of pertinent art collections and web sites. The result is a wonderfully intelligent yet concise survey that challenges readers with fresh scholarship and new interpretations of familiar themes; for public, academic, and fine art libraries. Kraig Binkowski, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Groseclose (Ohio State Univ.) offers an insightful, attractive introduction to 19th-century American art. In this generous survey of art history, there is an assumption that readers will be more interested if art history is something more than chronology and checklists of masterworks. Intellectual work makes it more interesting and more approachable. American 19th-century art is divided into artistic profession, portraiture, democratic models, democracy at work; landscape, the American West, and memory and myth: commemorative art. That arrangement provides an opportunity to learn the meaning of art in this time and place, as well as suggesting the permanent contributions of the greatest artists of the American century. Although paying suitable attention to the expected topics of landscape, Civil War photography, and the painterly documentation of the Native American, Groseclose also notices the growth of national symbols, the newly democratic vernacular of the latter half of the century, and the changing depiction of women, children, and immigrants. The result will be particularly interesting to the reader approaching the topic for the first time: an ideal textbook. Articulate, insightful, and accessible text; useful illustrations; helpful lists of Web sites and art collections. Recommended for general readers and undergraduates. R. M. Labuz Mohawk Valley Community College

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Professor of Art History at Ohio State University, Barbara Groseclose writes about eighteenth and nineteenth-century art and literature; her most recent book is British Sculpture and the Company Raj: Church Monuments and Public Statuary in Madras, Calcutta, and Bombay to 1858 (1995). In 1994 she was appointed a Fulbright Distinguished Chair in American Studies at the University of Utrecht.