Overview
Many American artists throughout the 20th century designated Pablo Picasso as the central figure of the modern movement and defined their own artistic achievements through their absorption, critique, or rejection of his example. Picasso and American Art is a groundbreaking publication juxtaposing works by Picasso with the paintings, sculptures, and drawings created in response by an extremely diverse group of his contemporaries and successors, including Max Weber, Stuart Davis, Arshile Gorky, John Graham, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, David Smith, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jasper Johns.
Based on extensive research, Michael FitzGerald’s text provides valuable new information on the fundamental role that Picasso played in the development of modern American art--both through his friendships with individual artists and through the dissemination of his evolving work. This book also documents, for the first time, the accessibility of Picasso’s work in the United States between 1911 and 1957 in exhibitions, collections, and publications through a comprehensive chronology.
This unique book is essential for anyone interested in either Picasso or American art of the 20th century.
Synopsis
Many American artists throughout the 20th century designated Pablo Picasso as the central figure of the modern movement and defined their own artistic achievements through their absorption, critique, or rejection of his example. Picasso and American Art is a groundbreaking publication juxtaposing works by Picasso with the paintings, sculptures, and drawings created in response by an extremely diverse group of his contemporaries and successors, including Max Weber, Stuart Davis, Arshile Gorky, John Graham, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, David Smith, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jasper Johns.
Based on extensive research, Michael FitzGerald’s text provides valuable new information on the fundamental role that Picasso played in the development of modern American art--both through his friendships with individual artists and through the dissemination of his evolving work. This book also documents, for the first time, the accessibility of Picasso’s work in the United States between 1911 and 1957 in exhibitions, collections, and publications through a comprehensive chronology.
This unique book is essential for anyone interested in either Picasso or American art of the 20th century.
Library Journal
The pervasive influence of Picasso is one of art history's best-established facts. As Jackson Pollock said of the famous Spaniard, "That guy missed nothing!" In a thoroughly researched and approachable study, Fitzgerald (Trinity Coll., Hartford, CT; Picasso: The Artist's Studio) scrutinizes a diverse group of American artists, focusing mainly on Weber, Davis, Gorky, Graham, de Kooning, Pollock, Smith, Lichtenstein, and Johns and their individual artistic dialogs with Picasso. The catalog, which accompanies an exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art running through January 28, does more than draw visual parallels. The experiments of each artist are examined chronologically, and extensive quotes elucidate their individual struggles to come to terms with the inescapable master. Though the artist never set foot in this country, Fitzgerald shrewdly deconstructs America's role in Picasso's reputation as well as the movements that can be attributed to his oeuvre. The handsome result is a unique addition to Picasso scholarship, with high-quality reproductions including rarely seen works. Highly recommended for all art collections.-Doug McClemont, New York Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.