Gilbert Munger: Quest for Distinction

by Michael D. Schroeder, J. Gray Sweeney

Gilbert Munger (1837-1903) achieved enormous artistic success by depicting recently discovered western landscapes with an accuracy and style admired by both scientists and art connoisseurs. By the 1870s his talent and keen eye had carried him to top of the New York and San Francisco art markets. But his decline was equally dramatic; when he died at age 65, he was an almost forgotten man. This landmark study reestablishes the artist’s place in the history of American landscape painting. His early works are painted in the realistic style of the Hudson River School, while his later pictures are suffused with the atmosphere and color of J. M. W. Turner, or the rural repose and historic air of Barbizon.

Hardcover

First published July 30, 2003

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I am distantly related to the subject of the book (we share common ancestry dating back to Munger immigrants to the US back in the 1600s), take this view with a grain of salt. But the story that is told here, in words and yes, in Munger's landscape art, is fascinating. At one point, GM was near the pinnacle of success, on the cusp of becoming one of America's best known and wealthiest landscape artists. But then, and I'll leave the "why" to your read of the book, things happened that caused him to end up a virtual unknown. The authors have done Minnesota readers and art historians a great service by putting this book together. Well done.
Mark Munger