Pennsylvania Impressionism :: Education by Design Store

Editorial Review

American Impressionism was a movement deeply rooted in the American soil. Artists often spurned the cities, living and working in the numerous art colonies that sprang up throughout the country in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. One of the best known of these colonies formed in 1898 on the banks of the Delaware River north of Philadelphia, centered in the picturesque village of New Hope, Bucks County. Known as the Pennsylvania impressionists, this group of artists played a dominant role in the American art world of the 1910s and 1920s, winning major awards and sitting on prestigious exhibition juries. Their work was celebrated for its freedom from European influence, and was praised by the noted painter and critic Guy Pene du Bois as "our first truly national expression."

Many of the Pennsylvania impressionists both studied and taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and their stylistic roots hearkened back to the "academy realism" practiced by Thomas Eakins and his followers. Edward Redfield was the generally acknowledged stylistic leader of the New Hope painters; his vigorously realistic, unsentimental brand of impressionism influenced several generations of artists associated with the group. However, what most characterized Pennsylvania impressionism was not a single, unified style but rather the emergence of many mature, distinctive voices: Daniel Garber's luminous, poetic renditions of the Delaware River; Fern Coppedge's colorful village scenes; Robert Spencer's lyrical views of mills and tenements; John Folinsbee's moody, expressionistic snowscapes; and William L. Lathrop's deeply felt, evocative Bucks County vistas.

Pennsylvania impressionist artwork is now widely collected, and many works in private hands are shown here, as well as the holdings of the James A. Michener Museum, recognized as the most extensive public collection. Pennsylvania Impressionism explores in comprehensive and sumptuous detail this important American movement. Principally authored by the Michener's Senior Curator Brian H. Peterson, the book contains additional essays by art historians William H. Gerdts, Professor Emeritus of Art History at the City University of New York, and Sylvia Yount, Margaret and Terry Stent Curator of American Art at the High Museum in Atlanta. Also included are biographies of more than 75 artists and extensive color reproductions of their work. Intended for both a general audience and aficionados, this book will become the principal source for information about this important branch of American impressionism.

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Customer Reviews

What a great impression this book has made

2008-08-27
This is a very thorough complilation of works by many well known or slightly known painters of mostly Eastern PA. There is ample reading and explanations of their influences, theories, and philosophies on art. It was interesting reading about how interconnected so many of them were. And ,oh yes, the pictures were very nice too.

Fine Introduction to an Excellent Group of Regional Artists

2008-02-22
This book has many, good-sized, excellent color reproductions of work with an interesting history of the New Hope artists. There are also succinct biographies of each of the major artists of this regional school plus a list with images of many of the lesser known people.
The last chapter of the book discusses the framemakers in the New Hope region who were part of the arts and crafts movement which is an interesting piece of art history in itself.
Mention is made of the "Pennsylvania 10", a group of the prominent women artists in this area, and a chapter could have been created to feature them, but they are worth a book unto themselves.
For anyone interested in American art, American Impressionism, and that period during the first half of the twentieth century as art moved from representational concepts to abstract and non-objective concepts, this book is worth having.
For artists who are working in this representational manner, they will find a wealth of ideas from these painters in terms of technique, design, and concepts.

Superb paintings

2008-01-04
Pennsylvania Impressionism opens with an introduction explaining the origins of painting in the area, followed by a somewhat pensive and personal mediation on art both, by Brian H Peterson; followed by two further discussions of art in Pennsylvania by Sylvia Yount and William H Gerdts respectively. Then comes the main colour plates section along with the artists' biographies. This is followed with entries for other associated artists and comprises brief descriptions accompanied by a representative thumb-nail illustration of each artist's work. The book concludes with two bibliographies and other lists.

This is a beautifully illustrated volume, the introductory chapters are illustrated, the colour plates section amounts to nearly two hundred pages, and along with the concluding section the full colour illustrations number three hundred and sixty nine. In the colour plates section they are arranged one and sometime two to a page and the standard is good, often revealing the quality and texture of the paint. However it should be noted that even the full page illustrations in fact rarely occupy more than half of the total page area, leaving the image surrounded by a lot of white space.

This is an attractively laid out and beautifully illustrated book, and the paintings themselves are absolutely superb.

Thorough survey

2007-11-29
This book provides a thorough survey of the Bucks County "Impressionist" painters. Plenty of good quality visuals, excellent as a resource. Particularly of interest to people in the Bucks Co, PA area.

Impressionists

2007-11-05
Excellent history of an important period in American art. Outstanding production - paper, color plates and binding. Efficient processing from Amazon.

Patched with colour

2007-01-13

Beautiful

2006-08-07
This is one of the finest books for those who enjoy Impressionist Work and Plein Air Painting. I have so often related Impressionist with only the European Artist. But seeing this work in person rivals the European Work. I would suggest this to any painter or painting major. I return to the works again and again as a Professional Artist to learn from these great painters and be inspired.

Wide net

2005-04-14
This book has what every art lover wants most in an art book; lots of large, well reproduced color images. This book is replete with them. There is also something for every taste. If you love American impressionism buy this book.

A full-color compendium of fantastic artworks

2002-12-09
Compiled and edited by Brian H. Peterson (Senior Curator, James A. Michener Art Museum, Bucks County, Pennsylvania), and enhanced with informative essays by William H. Gerdts (Professor Emeritus of Art History, Graduate School of the City University of New York), and Sylvia Yount (The Margaret and Terry Stent Curator of American Art at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia), with additional contributions by Erika Jaeger Smith, Constance Kimmerle, Mary O'Brien, Birgitta H. Bond, and Tricia Fagan, Pennsylvania Impressionism is a stunningly impressive, full-color compendium of fantastic artworks, enhanced with an erudite and knowledgeable commentary about the impressionistic styles Pennsylvanian artists and how they uniquely captured the land and its people. Brief biographies of great Impressionistic artists who lived in and painted Pennsylvania, thoughts on emotional works presented for the reader's enjoyment, state history, and much, much more combine to make Pennsylvania Impressionism both a gorgeous and unforgettable coffeetable artbook, as well as an essential addition to personal or academic American Art History collections.