American Art in Broad Spectrum

Richard J. Boyle. John Twachtman. New York: Watson-Guptill, 1979. 88 pp. William H. Gerdts and Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr. A Man of Genius: The Art of Washington Allston. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1979. 255 pp. William H. Gerdts. American Impressionism. Seattle: The Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, 1980. 180 pp. Laurie Lisle. Portrait of an Artist: .4 Biography of Georgia O'Keeffe. New York: Seaview Books, 1980.384 + x pp. Barbara Novak. Nature and Culture: American Landscape and Painting, 1825-1875. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.323 + xi pp. Christopher Tunnard. A World with a View: An Inquiry into the Nature of Scenic Values. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1978. 196 + xii pp. The six volumes under review cover a broad spectrum of American art. They are unified by a general concern with the way creators have used nature. The specific characteristics of this concern vary greatly. For instance Washington Allston (1779-1843), the earliest painter examined, used nature as a general guideline in the creation of his romantic works and not as a specific, precise theme to be depicted. The Luminists, discussed by Barbara Novak, on the other hand, were much more interested in scientific rendering and saw nature itself as containing full and divine powers. American Impression- ists also used nature scientifically, but with a heavy emphasis on the depiction of light through color rather than pantheistic themes. O'Keeffe's interest in nature is much more individual and psychological, once again a more romantic vision. And, finally, Tunnard pleads for a broad sensitivity to landscape and a specific appreciation of its historic, social and esthetic values

Art · Art history · Broad spectrum · Culture of the United States · Genius · Haven · Literature · Modern art · Painting · Performance art · Romance · Theme (computing · Visual art of the United States · American Environmental and Regional History · History