Alfred Stieglitz had a double impact on the evolution of modern art in America. As an audacious and dedicated photographer, he fought for photography's acceptance as an art form. As a gallery owner, he introduced the American public to the greatest artists of the period: Rodin, Matisse, Cézanne, Picasso, Brancusi, Braque, and Duchamp owed their first exhibitions in America to Stieglitz's vision and energy. The large and elegant Modern Art and America, organized by Sarah Greenough, curator of photography at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, presents 360 works by artists associated with Stieglitz's galleries, including the photographer himself. The first half of the book describes the years 1905 to 1917, when Stieglitz used his Gallery 291 as an intellectual forum and a place to exhibit the work of mostly European artists. The second covers 1921 to 1946, when he focused on promoting American artists such as John Marin, Arthur Dove, Paul Strand, and Stieglitz's partner, Georgia O'Keeffe. In an imaginative re-creation of history, the editors have gone to great lengths to locate and illustrate the actual paintings, photos, and sculptures that Stieglitz exhibited. Essays by curators at the National Gallery and others describe his relationships with individual artists, successfully conveying the intellectual ferment that he inspired. Modern Art and America, printed in Italy to the highest quality standards, is an exemplary combination of scholarship and art book, a pleasure both to look at and to read. --John Stevenson

From Library Journal
Greenough, curator of photographs at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, has arranged a recent exhibit there that focuses on the role of photographer Alfred Stieglitz as a promoter of modern art in the United States. This book complements the exhibit, featuring essays by Greenough and other scholars on the New York galleries that Stieglitz operated as showcases for modern painting, sculpture, and photography during the first three decades of the 20th century. Greenough's book is successful in explaining the importance of the galleries, which made European art available to Americans while also revealing the talents of modern American painters, photographers, and sculptors. Most of the essays focus on the artists who exhibited in Stieglitz's galleries, e.g., Picasso, O'Keeffe, Matisse, and Strand. The research and documentation in this volume are exemplary, and the high-quality photographic reproductions are well chosen. Strongly recommended for academic and larger public libraries. Eric Linderman, East Cleveland P.L., Ohio Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
Never before has there been such a comprehensive overview of Alfred Stieglitz's role in bringing modern European art to America and in creating a distinctly American version of modernism. Coinciding with a major exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., that presents artists first shown in America at Stieglitz's New York galleries, this exceptional volume includes enlightening essays by leading Stieglitz scholars. 350 reproductions of paintings, sculpture, and photographs by preeminent European and American artists, including Stieglitz himself, accompany the text.

About the Author
Sarah Greenough is curator of photographs at the National Gallery of Art. She has co-authored several books about photography, including Alfred Stieglitz: Photographs and Writings (NGA 1983; reprinted 1999), and Harry Callahan (NGA and Bulfinch 1998).

FROM OUR EDITORS

Photographer Alfred Stieglitz was one of the preeminent figures of the modern art movement, first introducing the tenets of European modernism to the American art community in his New York art galleries and then helping to create a uniquely American version of modern art through his own work. In conjunction with an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, Modern Art and America displays the fundamentals of both European and American modernism, including some of Stieglitz's own work. This is sure to be a volume of utmost importance to American art history.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Never before has there been such a comprehensive overview of Alfred Stieglitz's role in bringing modern European art to America and in creating a distinctly American version of modernism. Coinciding with a major exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., that presents artists first shown in America at Stieglitz's New York galleries, this exceptional volume includes enlightening essays by leading Stieglitz scholars. 350 reproductions of paintings, sculpture, and photographs by preeminent European and American artists, including Stieglitz himself, accompany the text.

Author Biography: Sarah Greenough is curator of photographs at the National Gallery of Art. She has co-authored several books about photography, including Alfred Stieglitz: Photographs and Writings (NGA 1983; reprinted 1999), and Harry Callahan (NGA and Bulfinch 1998).

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal