Library Journal
...[I]mpressive...Extremely well written and chock-full of information...[For] all larger libraries,...academic and museum libraries...
Book Description
The Metropolitan Museum of Art began acquiring American drawings in 1880 and has since amassed a spectacular collection of more than 1,400 works in watercolor, pastel, ink, graphite, chalk, and charcoal. This beautifully produced catalogue, the first volume in a series devoted to the museum's rich holdings, presents works by artists born before 1835, including such great American artists as John Singleton Copley, Thomas Cole, George Inness, and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. In his introduction, Kevin J. Avery describes the acquisitions history of American drawings at the Metropolitan from 1880 to the present day. Marjorie Shelley writes on the materials and techniques used by American draftsmen from the eighteenth century until about 1875. The catalogue section of the book features 106 of the Museum's choicest drawings and watercolors, discussed in detail and reproduced in color. A checklist follows of the museum's complete collection of early works on paper, with black-and-white illustrations of 430 additional works and brief artist biographies.
About the Author
Kevin J. Avery is Associate Curator and Claire A. Conway is Research Assistant in the Department of American Paintings and Sculpture at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Marjorie Shelley is Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge, Sherman Fairchild Center for Works on Paper and Photograph Conservation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
American Drawings and Watercolors in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born before 1835, Vol. 1 FROM THE PUBLISHER
The Metropolitan Museum of Art began acquiring American drawings in 1880 and has since amassed a spectacular collection of more than 1,400 works in watercolor, pastel, ink, graphite, chalk, and charcoal. This beautifully produced catalogue, the first volume in a series devoted to the museum's rich holdings, presents works by artists born before 1835, including such great American artists as John Singleton Copley, Thomas Cole, George Inness, and James Abbott McNeill Whistler.
In his introduction, Kevin J. Avery describes the acquisitions history of American drawings at the Metropolitan from 1880 to the present day. Marjorie Shelley writes on the materials and techniques used by American draftsmen from the eighteenth century until about 1875. The catalogue section of the book features 106 of the Museum's choicest drawings and watercolors, discussed in detail and reproduced in color. A checklist follows of the museum's complete collection of early works on paper, with black-and-white illustrations of 430 additional works and brief artist biographies.
Author Biography: Kevin J. Avery is Associate Curator and Claire A. Conway is Research Assistant in the Department of American Paintings and Sculpture at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Marjorie Shelley is Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge, Sherman Fairchild Center for Works on Paper and Photograph Conservation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Many years in the making, this impressive work on early American drawings and watercolors in the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection can finally take its place in the museum's remarkable list of collection catalogs. Readers will easily forgive the wait after confronting this detailed and engrossing examination. Only the first in a proposed multivolume series, this book looks at the work of over 200 artists born prior to 1835. The essays by Avery (associate curator, Dept. of American Paintings and Sculpture) and Marjorie Shelly (conservator in charge, Sherman Fairchild Ctr. for Works on Paper and Photographic Conservation) are thorough and lively, but the real gems are the highlighted catalog entries. Over 100 entries offer full-color, detailed examinations of both the works of art and the lives, influences, and techniques of the artist. Extremely well written and chock-full of information, these entries contain extensive bibliographic references. To top it all off, the authors include a full checklist of the collection as well as short biographies of the artists represented. A collection catalog as well made and as important as this one deserves to be on the shelves of all larger libraries, and academic and museum libraries in particular would be embarrassed not to have it in their collections.-Kraig A. Binkowski, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.
Art & Photography
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