American Impressionists

by Donelson F. Hoopes

Describes the works of the Impressionists who contributed to the development of American art in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries

Genres: Art

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seems to be one of the first books that introduced American impressionism to the new generation of readers and in this aspect, this book is quite remarkable. While published in 1972, deep in time when BW illustration dominated art books, the book shows 64 plates of American impressionism paintings in full-page size and color. The format of the book follows many books on American impressionism published between 1990 and 2010, which are collections of paintings broadly representing American impressionism with 1-2 paintings per artist to offer better coverage. Each painting has a “story” offering some words about the artist, the painting, and the context of the work. This book, however, is one of the first to use this format in this area, so it is more proper to say that the other books follow this format. As one of the first books introducing American impressionism as a movement, this book takes a broader view of the period justly including paintings of Whistler, Sargent, and Innes who are frequently posted in the category of their own in later books as well as the Ashcan School / the Eight who are frequently missing from later books being classified as post-impressionists. It also includes Frieseke, Garber, and Redfield, although beyond that, it doesn’t cover the Giverny group, New Hope, or California impressionism re-discovered later. Yet, its 64 plates present a large variety of artists and follow with their biographies in the later section. The book also offers a brief 10-page introduction to the movement. Altogether, it is a very significant publication of its time. Its only weakness is the relatively poor quality of reproduction. While all-color, neither printing nor color quality is close to the quality of modern books. It is now more of a landmark rather than a modern art book.

[Pholsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an older book that is worth reading as each page offers a narrative about the artist's work and background info. I found myself looking up additional information and truly enjoyed doing so. The deficit is the lack of diversity with the artists of color; the scope does nothing to augment a broader appreciation of those who also engaged with the impression style, and sadly reflects the prolonged habit of art institutions in overlooking such artists.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little short, with 64 prints. Text on the left goes with the print on the right. Text does not fill the space, so lots of white space, since the book is fairly big. Easy to read the text next to the print. Short bios of all the artists at the end of the book.

[Michael]

Was

[Chris Gager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting summary of the American school aroung the turn of the century. I'm a fan of Inness in particular, though he denied any involvement with impressionism.