American Art: Collecting and Connoisseurship

Book Synopsis: For the serious collector and connoisseur of the field of American art of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this series of essays will be invaluable. Twenty-eight writers, each of them highly experienced and an acknowledged expert in their field, examine every aspect of the subject and contribute illuminating and often thought-provoking examinations of a wide variety of topics.

The book is divided into three sections. Part I, The Historical Overview, contains fourteen essays. Their subjects range from the Hudson River School to the art of the American West, American artists in Europe, American Impressionism, Modernism, examinations of the major artists Marguerite Zorach, John Sloan, Everett Shinn, Marsden Hartley, Stuart Davis, Arshile Gorky, John Graham, Willem de Kooning, Guy Pène du Bois and his relationship with the collector Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, African American Art, figurative sculpture, and period frame connoisseurship.

Part II deals with Connoisseurship and the Collector, and covers such topics as developing an instinct for quality; dealing in fine art; conservation; choosing wisely in making a collection; the pleasures and perils of collecting art works on paper; researching paintings you may be considering acquiring; the role of qualified art advisors; the anatomy of an auction; knowing the law when buying art; and legal issues for the collector selling art. There are glimpses of the prominent collectors who have contributed so greatly to the American art scene over many years.

Part III covers Current Themes in the Art Market, and what to look out for, examining how to make historical American art relevant to the modern age and avoiding misinterpretation of what could be seen as sensitive subjects such as race; pointers to ways of connecting historical American art and the modern world; a look at why galleries matter; and discussing shifting tastes in American art.