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WPA federal art project : printmaking in California 1935-43

Art for every home : Associated American Artists, 1934-2000

"This book will provide the first comprehensive and critical overview of Associated American Artists (AAA), the commercial enterprise best known as the publisher of prints by Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, and Grant Wood. It addresses not only AAA's storied involvement in the sale of American prints via mail-order catalogue, but also its ongoing promotion of American art in a range of mediums over six decades. Through aggressive marketing of studio prints, reproductions of art, ceramics and textiles, and associations with corporate advertisers, AAA sought to bring "original" American art over the threshold of every American home"--An unparalleled study of a company that promoted and popularized American fine art prints, ceramics, and textiles throughout the 20th century > The Associated American Artists was a commercial enterprise best known for publishing prints by Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, and Grant Wood. Founded in 1934, AAA began as a crucial income opportunity for artists during the Great Depression and continued to operate for more than 60 years, showcasing work by nearly 600 artists from the United States and abroad in mail-order catalogues and galleries alike. Through successful marketing, associations with advertising agents, and commissions from major corporations, the organization sought to bring art-including ceramics and textiles in addition to prints-to every American home. This book offers the first comprehensive and critical overview of AAA and its promotion of American art over half a century. Six principal essays explore the company's history and the breadth of its endeavors in studio prints, glass, ceramics, and textiles, as well as the relationship between its home furnishings programs and American consumerism during the 1950s. Additional texts, including a case study of one artist's relationship with AAA and an art dealer's reminiscence of working there, add depth and color. Generously illustrated, this catalogue offers a highly original look at the organization that greatly expanded the audience for 20th-century American art.

Paths to the press : printmaking and American women artists, 1910-1960

In 1910, Bertha Jaques co-founded the Chicago Society of Etchers and helped launch a revival of American fine art printmaking. In the decades following, women artists produced some of the most compelling images in U.S. printmaking history and helped advance the medium technically and stylistically. "Paths to the Press" examines American women artists' contributions to printmaking in the U.S. during the early to mid twentieth century. It features work by internationally and nationally recognized figures such as Isabel Bishop, Louise Nevelson, and Elizabeth Catlett; well-known regional figures such as Chicago artist Bertha Jaques, New Mexico artist Gener Kloss, and Louisiana artist Caroline Durieux; and relatively unknown printmakers such as Chicago artist Fritzi Brod, San Franciscan Pele deLappe, and Texan Mary Bonner. The contributors include David Acton, Nancy E. Green, Melanie Herzog, Helen Langa, Bill North, Mark Pascale, and Mark B. Pohlad.