John Smibert (1688-1751) was the first portrait painter of distinction to attempt to carve out an existence in colonial America. This book by Richard Saunders is both a catalogue raisonné of Smibert's work and a discussion of his life and career. Saunders explores Smibert's early Scottish and London training as well as his travels to Italy; his portrait practice in London; his arrival in America and his stylistic development; the creation of The Bermuda Group, Smibert's masterpiece; and, finally, the business of portrait painting in Boston. According to Saunders, Smibert's portraits provide essential clues about the nature of portraiture in colonial society. Saunders discusses the social codes, ethnic prejudices, and religious intrigues that exacted a toll of Smibert and other artists of the period. He also describes how Smibert reconciled the conflicts between his search for spiritual well-being brought about by his Scottish Presbyterian heritage and his struggle for artistic achievement, social acceptance, and financial security. The catalogue illustrates more than one hundred and thirty works by the artist, as well as listing erroneous attributions and fakes. A Barra Foundation Book

John Smibert: Colonial America`s First Portrait Painter

Arts & Photography

Saunders, Richard H.

Individual Artists

Yale University Press

Portrays all types of individuals and describes and identifies the artists and sitters

American Colonial Portraits 1700-1776

Miles, Ellen Gross

History & Criticism

Smithsonian

As New Condition. No flaws or wear. This is an oversize book, that may require additional postage. All our books are individually inspected, rated and described. Never EX-LIB unless specifically listed as such.

Worldly Goods: The Arts of Early Pennsylvania, 1680-1758

Dunn, Richard S.

Philadelphia Museum Of Art

Lindsey, Jack L.

Carter, Edward Carlos

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Celebrating Vermont: Myths and Realities

History

Graff, Nancy Price

Westbrook, Virginia A.

Americas

Middlebury College Museum of Art

Portraits. We know what they are, but why do we make them? Americans have been celebrating themselves in portraits since the arrival of the first itinerant portrait painters to the colonies. They created images to commemorate loved ones, glorify the famous, establish our national myths, and honor our shared heroes. Whether painting in oil, carving in stone, casting in bronze, capturing on film, or calculating in binary code, we spend considerable time creating, contemplating, and collecting our likenesses. In this sumptuously illustrated book, Richard H. Saunders explores our collective understanding of portraiture, its history in America, how it shapes our individual and national identity, and why we make portraits―whether for propaganda and public influence or for personal and private appreciation. American Faces is a rich and fascinating view of ourselves.

American Faces: A Cultural History of Portraiture and Identity

University Press of New England

Horatio Greenough is generally regarded as the first American sculptor to achieve international fame. A Boston native educated at Harvard, Greenough spent most of his professional life in Florence, Italy. While there, he nurtured lasting friendships with such Americans on the Grand Tour as James Fenimore Cooper, Thomas Cole, and Samuel F. B. Morse. Although he received two key US Government commissions--George Washington, 1832-41, and The Rescue, 1837-51--contemporary aversion to his depiction of Washington as an American Zeus, and this century's discomfort with the subject of The Rescue (a confrontation between a bellicose American Indian and a pioneer family) have worked against public understanding and viewing of his work. This handsome presentation of 48 of his drawings, only two previously seen publicly, and 14 of his sculptures, reveals much about this gifted, yet tormented artist. The accompanying text shows how the process of drawing relates to the making of sculpture and, using the artist's rich correspondence, provides insight into the relationship between patron and artist and the unpredictability of artistic achievement in pre-Civil War America.

Horatio Greenough: An American Sculptor's Drawings

Greenough, Horatio

Sculpture

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Books by Saunders, Richard H.