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Rating: 
Summary: enlightening but a little incomplete
Review: Wanda Corn's book is the most extensive atttempt to put early modern art in the United States into its social, historical, and cultural context. In doing this, it has little competition. Most books in this field have been monographic studies of style--in other words mostly formalist analyses purely and totally. It is fortunate that Corn makes the central thesis of her book quite clear in the introduction and first chapter. She believes that there are connections between style and culture and she is determined to connect the visual with the social-historical meanings it often conveys.Corn has done an enormous amount of research for this book and she provides many new insights. She connects the art to the time and place of creation with insight, enthusiasm and a lot of evidence to back up her opinions and observations. She even identifies, describes and traces the cultural roots of a distinctly American aesthetic in early modern painting that she labels "billboard cubism." The book is structured with a long introduction, six chapters in which a single work by one artist is the focus (although many other works are discussed along the way) and an epilogue to trace how the issues at hand evolved after the period of time covered in this book. The book has some problems. The basic structure of the book as a series of case studies is somewhat off-putting. It is not clear how relevant the author's arguments focused on six works by six very different artists are to the breadth of art produced at this time. Her decision to make Gerald Murphy and not Stuart Davis the focus of one chapter is perplexing. Davis is much better known, he was more prolific, and there is more literature (although still not enough to answer some enduring questions) on him. The first chapter, on Duchamp's Fountain, tends to become somewhat unfocused as the author casts her perspective on the work's context a little too wide. All in all, an attractive book with lovely reproductions that is highly informative. Recommended strongly for students of American art and history.
Rating:
Summary: enlightening but a little incomplete
Review: Wanda Corn's book is the most extensive atttempt to put early modern art in the United States into its social, historical, and cultural context. In doing this, it has little competition. Most books in this field have been monographic studies of style--in other words mostly formalist analyses purely and totally. It is fortunate that Corn makes the central thesis of her book quite clear in the introduction and first chapter. She believes that there are connections between style and culture and she is determined to connect the visual with the social-historical meanings it often conveys. Corn has done an enormous amount of research for this book and she provides many new insights. She connects the art to the time and place of creation with insight, enthusiasm and a lot of evidence to back up her opinions and observations. She even identifies, describes and traces the cultural roots of a distinctly American aesthetic in early modern painting that she labels "billboard cubism." The book is structured with a long introduction, six chapters in which a single work by one artist is the focus (although many other works are discussed along the way) and an epilogue to trace how the issues at hand evolved after the period of time covered in this book. The book has some problems. The basic structure of the book as a series of case studies is somewhat off-putting. It is not clear how relevant the author's arguments focused on six works by six very different artists are to the breadth of art produced at this time. Her decision to make Gerald Murphy and not Stuart Davis the focus of one chapter is perplexing. Davis is much better known, he was more prolific, and there is more literature (although still not enough to answer some enduring questions) on him. The first chapter, on Duchamp's Fountain, tends to become somewhat unfocused as the author casts her perspective on the work's context a little too wide. All in all, an attractive book with lovely reproductions that is highly informative. Recommended strongly for students of American art and history.
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