Labeled as a traveling American folk artist when he was rediscovered in the mid-20th century, the mysterious Thomas Chambers here receives a fresh and creative reassessment. Although his distinctive sea- and landscapes appear in many American collections, little is known about this English-born painter, who arrived in New Orleans in 1832 and disappeared from record in the mid-1860s, leaving many paintings that later resurfaced in rural New York and Massachusetts. In this richly illustrated work, Kathleen A. Foster shows, however, that far from being simply an itinerant painter of folk art, Chambers actually enjoyed a professional, even entrepreneurial, relationship to the art world.
Foster performs close studies of Chambers’s known works, his stylistic relationship to his brother (English marine painter George Chambers), and a newly discovered American auction record of 1845. Chambers, she argues, provided a popular landscape art for a middle class of mixed cosmopolitan and folk tastes. Bringing “fancy” painting to this new constituency, Chambers worked outside academic circles, drawing astutely from popular culture. In the 20th century, his rediscovery as “America’s first modern” paid tribute to his independent spirit and decorative panache.

Thomas Chambers: American Marine and Landscape Painter, 1808-1869

Arts & Photography

Kathleen A. Foster

History & Criticism

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) is one of the most fascinating and important personalities in the history of American art. His memorable and much-loved scenes of rowing, sailing, and boxing as well as his deeply moving portraits are renowned for their vibrant realism and dramatic intensity. This beautiful and insightful book, published in conjunction with a major exhibition on the life and career of Eakins - the first in twenty years - presents a fresh perspective on the artist and his remarkable accomplishments. Lavishly illustrated with more than 250 of Eakins's most significant paintings, watercolours, drawings, and sculpture, the book features essays by prominent scholars who place his art in the context of the history and culture of late nineteenth-century Philadelphia, where he lived. The contributors also discuss how Eakins applied his French academic training to subjects that were distinctly American and part of his own immediate and complex experience. Eakins's own photographs, which he used as part of his unique creative process, are also examined for the first time in the full context of his life's work. The exhibition Thomas Eakins will be on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 4th October, 2001 to 6th January, 2002; the Musee d'Orsay, Paris, from 3rd February to 12th May, 2002; and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from 10th June to 15th Spetember, 2002.

Thomas Eakins

The Life Line, a thrilling scene of rescue on stormy seas, firmly established Winslow Homer (1836-1910) as one of the leading American painters of his day, and one of the foremost maritime artists of all time. Combining a close analysis of Homer's masterpiece with an engaging look at the history of images of disaster and rescue in art and popular culture, Shipwreck! explores the making and meaning of an iconic American work of art. Kathleen A. Foster locates The Life Line within the tradition of shipwreck paintings from the 17th century onward, as well as in relation to Homer's earlier work, which also featured themes of disaster, suspense, and salvation. This intriguing book presents new research that tracks Homer's delicate management of the figures' erotic embrace, and traces how the artist was influenced by popular contemporary images of drowning, rescue, and mourning as well as the development of new life-saving technologies.

Shipwreck!: Winslow Homer and the Life Line

The fascinating story of the transformation of American watercolor practice between 1866 and 1925The formation of the American Watercolor Society in 1866 by a small, dedicated group of painters transformed the perception of what had long been considered a marginal medium. Artists of all ages, styles, and backgrounds took up watercolor in the 1870s, inspiring younger generations of impressionists and modernists. By the 1920s many would claim it as “the American medium.” This engaging and comprehensive book tells the definitive story of the metamorphosis of American watercolor practice between 1866 and 1925, identifying the artist constituencies and social forces that drove the new popularity of the medium. The major artists of the movement – Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, William Trost Richards, Thomas Moran, Thomas Eakins, Charles Prendergast, Childe Hassam, Edward Hopper, Charles Demuth, and many others – are represented with lavish color illustrations. The result is a fresh and beautiful look at watercolor’s central place in American art and culture.

American Wtercolor

Alice Schille (1869-1955), born in Columbus, Ohio, was one of the most-noted artists from about 1900 until the rise of Abstract Expressionism following World War II. She studied at the Columbus Art School, the Art Students League, and Chase School of Art. She lived in Paris where she associated with that city's art elite. She returned to her hometown where she taught at the Columbus Art School until about 1950. But she traveled and painted widely: Gloucester, Massachusetts; New Mexico; Central America; Holland; France; Belgium; England; and North Africa. She received myriad recognitions and awards, including at both international and nation juried exhibitions where she was compared favorably to Childe Hassam, Maurice Prendergast, Winslow Homer, and John Singer Sargent. She also taught such noted artists as James Roy Hopkins, Clyde Singer, and Ray Kinsman-Water. Yet, she is largely forgotten today, along with numerous women artists who were marginalized as the center of the art universe moved to New York City and favored Abstract Expressionism. In a New Light provides an in-depth study of her remarkable life and career.

In a New Light: Alice Schille and the American Water Color Movement

Tara R. Keny

James M. Keny

Columbus Museum of Art

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kathleen A. Foster. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Kathleen A. Foster

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kathleen A. Foster. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Thomas Chambers: American Marine and Landscape Painter, 1808-1869

Thomas Eakins

Thomas Chambers: American Marine and Landscape Painter, 1808-1869

Shipwreck!: Winslow Homer and the Life Line

American Wtercolor

In a New Light: Alice Schille and the American Water Color Movement