An Encyclopedia of Women Artists of the American West (American Studies Series)

"Western art," to many people, recalls Frederic Remington's and Charles M. Russell's evocative (indeed mythmaking) scenes of cowboys and American Indians. Shift the focus to women artists, and perhaps only Georgia O'Keeffe comes into view, with her luminous New Mexico landscapes. But these popular portrayers are only a few of the many artists who have created lasting images of the West.

This encyclopedia is a biographical dictionary of some 1,000 women artists of the American West. The product of a twenty-year, coast-to-coast research project by authors Phil Kovinick and Marian Yoshiki-Kovinick, it offers accurate, concise introductions to women painters, graphic artists, and sculptors, all of whom achieved recognition as depictors of Western subjects between the 1840s and 1980. Their styles range from representationalism to early modernism, while their works depict everything from bold landscapes and scenes of intensive action to studies of Native Americans, pioneers, ranchers, farmers, wildlife, and flora.

Each entry in the encyclopedia features the salient facts of the artist's life and career, with attention to her work with Western subject matter. Many of the entries also contain a selected list of the artist's exhibitions, current locations of her work in public collections, pertinent references, and a black-and-white example of her work. An overview of the history of women in western art complements the biographical entries.