American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum - Hardcover

Hollander, Stacy C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810967413 ISBN 13: 9780810967410

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, 2001

Synopsis

The preeminent private collection of American folk art now becomes public. Showcasing more than 400 outstanding works that comprise the Ralph O. Esmerian gift to the American Folk Art Museum in New York, this sumptuous volume celebrates American folk art in all its vibrant diversity.

Combining new research, never-before-published color photographs, and detailed entries on each artwork, American Radiance is indispensable for collectors and students, and will appeal to general art audiences. The book celebrates the opening of the museum's new building in New York City, where the Esmerian Collection is the inaugural exhibition.

About this title

Review:

From the wistful charm of an early-19th-century American portrait of a sharp-nosed adolescent girl to the exquisite curves of a six-inch-long sea horse carved from the ivory tusk of a whale, Ralph Esmerian has an eye for the most striking examples of folk art. American Radiance lavishly showcases the collector's major gift to the American Folk Art Museum in New York, where it is on view through June 2002. With 778 photographs, 419 in color, this volume ranges over many categories, including portraits, scenic images, narrative watercolors, furniture and decorative objects, Shaker crafts, fraktur (ornate penmanship samplers, birth records, love tokens, and other illuminated texts), needlework, and wood and metal sculpture. Each of the 341 objects is fully discussed in a separate "notes" section written by 12 specialist contributors, so that the bulk of the book consists solely of captivating photographs alive with pattern, color, whimsy, and grace. --Cathy Curtis

From the Publisher:

Exhibition Schedule: American Folk Art Museum, New York: Dec. 2001-Apr. 2002
Publicity: National publicity tie-in with Museum of American Folk Art exhibition; National magazine and newspaper coverage
Advertising: Art magazines

About this edition

• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0810967413
• ISBN 13: 9780810967410
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 571