La peinture américaine (book)

This post is also available in: Français (French)

La peinture américaine / American Painting (book) by Francesca Castria Marchetti, Roberta Bernabei and Stefano Zuffi. Edition Gallimard. 2002. 304 pages, 400 illustrations, under illustrated cover, 250 x 280 mm, hardcover book in French language.

It must be admitted that this beautiful book fills a gap. We Europeans know very little about the history of American painting, except for the period of abstract expressionism with Pollock and pop art. However, this work demonstrates how much America has always needed representations.

This book, which brings together two hundred years of the history of American painting, with four hundred memorable paintings and nearly eighty artists, brings to light a whole that has until now been little explored by European taste, which has tended, by virtue of its own antagonisms, to oppose its different developments. It is also a true continent of art that is revealed to us through this aesthetic journey that takes us from Independence to recent years.

We discover a surprising history, rich in images for the most part unknown that cannot be reduced to a pasticheur art. In the classical manner of the first masters, witnesses of the American revolution, succeed the great panoramic landscapes of the 19th century, which Emerson’s writings reflect wonderfully. Then artists such as Mary Cassatt, John Sargent or Whistler, who paved the way for impressionism, alongside the massive importation of pompier art, so dear to American amateurs.

Finally, it is the birth of a realistic painting which, by taking a preponderant place, will lead American painting towards the profusion of movements and protagonists of the 20th century. It is during this brilliant period that New York asserts itself as the world capital of art.

Francesca Castria Marchetti, Roberta Bernabei and Stefano Zuffi trace this complex evolution in its major stages. This abundant panorama is of central importance for the art and culture of our time.

Feel free to check out the additional photos at the top left, thank you!

If you prefer to pay in EUR, you must click on the orange “French” option under the main photo above, which will redirect you to the text in French and the payment in €.