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WHAT
TO GIVE, WHAT TO GET 2001: Begin Your Holiday Shopping With Us
America the Beautiful
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JEWS OF BROOKLYN
edited by Ilana Abramovitch and Sean Galvin
University Press of New England
ISBN: 1584650036
This tome combines history and memoir to trace how Jews have contributed to the character of New York City and the culture of America itself.
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A SAND COUNTY ALMANAC: With Essays on Conservation
by Aldo Leopold
Photographs by Michael Sewell
Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195146174
Originally published in 1949, this seminal tract of the conservation and environmental movements is now complimented with lush photographs of the Wisconsin countryside.
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COWBOYS: A Vanishing World
by Jon Nicholson
St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 0312286775
These stark and tender photographs pay homage to the mythology and grandeur of the American West, while focusing on the fundamental changes America is going through as it moves into the 21st century.
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HATCH SHOW PRINT: The History of a Great American Poster Shop
by Jim Sherraden, Elek Horvath, and Paul Kingsbury
Chronicle Books
ISBN: 0811828565
The ads and posters collected here celebrate America's heritage of design and music in brilliant colors, while the oral history and anecdotes about the early days of Nashville will delight fans of Americana.
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INDIAN COUNTRY
by Gwendolen Cates
Grove Press
ISBN: 0802116965
The lens of the photojournalist captures the faces and places of the world we live in with an uncomplicated honesty; their joys radiating outward to the observer, their tragedies evoking tears that lodge in your throat. The vibrant images of INDIAN COUNTRY are forever frozen in time yet are expressions of a sensory experience that goes far beyond any visual moment. Photojournalist Gwendolen Cates takes us along on her journey through today's Native American landscapes, recording the poignant stories and the storytellers in both pictures and words.
INDIAN COUNTRY begins on the inside cover with remarks from Gwendolen Cates that you definitely don't want to overlook. Her thoughts on the generosity and hospitality of the people she spoke to and photographed, and the genuine emotion that flows from her words, are a reflection of her heartfelt desire to render a respectful depiction of these Native American people. She grew up spending many hours on the Navajo reservation, and this collection of photos is her gift to those that white society has deemed invisible. Her portraits include tribes from all regions of the country and all walks of life: fishermen on the Yukon River, a child at play, spiritual leaders, artists, dancers, ranchers, and authors. There are Navajo, Cheyenne, Tlingit, Seneca, faces of all ages that we've yet to meet and faces we recognize, like Rita Coolidge, Val Kilmer, and N. Scott Momaday. The bond with mother earth and the spiritual essence that embodies their cultures echo from cover to cover in the beauty of their words:
"The Great Spirit moves through me. I try to live according to the Great Laws, to respect all things and all peoples." --- Gaiashkibos, Lac Courte Oreilles Chippewa
Despite the scenic landscapes and serene moments captured at work and play, there are those photographs that deliver a far different impact --- a lone horse gazing out over the vast empty grasslands of the Little Big Horn, rows of children's tombstones at Haskell University, the memorial riders at Wounded Knee. They are solemn and wrenching. A reminder that not all human beings behave with honor, not all of our country's history is something to take pride in. As we journey through INDIAN COUNTRY, Cates gives the viewer all shades of reality and conveys the joys and the sorrows of a forgotten people. Sherman Alexie sums it up best in his opening remarks:
"'This is what I saw,' says Gwendolen...'Now, what do you see?'"
--- Reviewed by Ann Bruns (BkPageWC@aol.com)
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AMERICAN RADIANCE: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum
by Stacy C. Hollander, Sr. Curator and Director of Exhibitions
Harry N. Abrams
ISBN: 0810967413
A history-making exhibition and a breathtaking building, much more distinguished than its previous secondhand space, usher in a new era for the American Folk Art Museum. After nearly 40 years of standing in the shadows of its peers, the museum, which celebrates what many would call the purest form of American art, has arrived. And with its grand opening this month, the museum also proudly displays the most preeminent private collection of American folk art ever amassed by a single person --- AMERICAN RADIANCE: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum.
Ralph Esmerian began accumulating Pennsylvania German ceramics and other pieces of local art with little thought to possessing a future museum-worthy trove. He simply acquired whatever objects appealed to him; his natural flair for recognizing quality and craftsmanship took care of the rest. In the opening text entitled "Journey," Esmerian describes his fascination with objects that reflect a union between man and nature and his eventual transition from focusing on ancient civilizations to the early American culture. The majority of his life long collection focuses on the traditional folk art era from the late 17th to the early 20th century that has become so highly coveted in recent years. While much of the artistry has its roots in European folk art, there is a uniqueness that defines the American style from its old world counterpart --- an element of romanticism mixed with ingenuity --- that absolutely beckons the collector.
AMERICAN RADIANCE showcases the broad spectrum of this notable artwork from watercolor portraits to needlework to furniture. The artistry ranges from Bill Traylor, an Alabama slave, who depicted everyday life with such simplicity in pencil and ink to the painter, Edward Hicks, and his well known work, Peaceable Kingdom. With nearly 400 pages of lavish illustrations accompanied by a well documented catalogue, there's a lot to please even the casual art lover. A personal favorite of this reader is the section on antique weathervanes fashioned in an infinite variety of designs. No doubt the much publicized Statue of Liberty weathervane, a rendition of Bartholdi's sculpture that became an American icon, will be a major attraction for museum goers this season. But my choice would be the weathervane entitled Fame. Patterned after the ancient Greek goddess, she twirls gracefully on her toes, skirts billowing in the wind, gaily trumpeting to the breeze.
There are also delightful forms of art to be discovered among the pages that may be unfamiliar to many readers. For instance, there is an intriguing pottery known as slipware, earthenware adorned with a technique known as "slip trailing" in which liquefied colored clays are drizzled from a specially designed cup to create an interesting pattern. Another art form identified primarily with early Pennsylvania is fraktur --- a form of illuminated text used most often for birth certificates, family journals, and religious papers. The very complex artwork coupled with the lovely, ornate writing makes it one of the most sought after collectibles in the market today. And there is the beautifully intricate pattern of flowers and leaves on Appliqued Carpet, c. 1860, by an unknown artist that would make a friend of mine who enjoys tapestries positively swoon.
Aside from being an avid collector, Ralph Esmerian has a long and distinguished history with the American Folk Art Museum, becoming a trustee and treasurer in 1973 and later serving as president and chairman of the board from 1977 to 1999. With the dedication of the new building, Esmerian generously turned over his more than 400 piece collection to the museum's curators to be exhibited from December of 2001 through June of 2002. While many of his pieces previously has been made available to scholars and museums, this marks the first time the entire collection has been accessible to the public. So if you have the opportunity to tour the new museum, don't miss it! But for those who can't travel to New York to view it in person, AMERICAN RADIANCE provides a magnificent overview of this increasingly popular art that is so authentically American.
--- Reviewed by Ann Bruns (BkPageWC@aol.com)
©
Copyright 2001, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
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