Frames of Reference

by Whitney Museum of American Art; Venn, Beth; Weinberg, Adam D.; Fraser, Kennedy

• ISBN13: 9780520218888
• ISBN10: 0520218884
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

The Whitney Museum of American Art, founded by visionary patron and artist Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875-1942), is home to one of the finest collections of American art in the country.Frames of Referencefeatures eminent contributors from the fields of art, literature, and contemporary culture who together provide a wide-ranging introduction to American art as well as to the Whitney Museum's unparalleled collection. Kennedy Fraser's introductory essay focuses on Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, especially on her relationships with the artists of her time, her own artistic development, and her farsighted advocacy of American art and artists. In section two, Adam D. Weinberg, Beth Venn, Kathryn Potts, and Kate Rubin concentrate on twenty-seven of the Whitney's most popular works, each entry accompanied by captions and related images that shed new light on old favorites. The book's third section features ten "icons" from the Whitney's Permanent Collection, with three contributors providing distinct perspectives on each work. This stimulating combination of voices instructs, enlightens, and, at times, amuses: John Updike on Edward Hopper'sEarly Sunday Morning, Alan Dershowitz on Ben Shahn'sThe Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti, and George Plimpton on George Bellows'Dempsey and Firpoare examples of this section's diverse mix. With its unique design and variety of approaches to viewing and understanding art,Frames of Referencewill change the way visitors experience the Whitney Museum and will delight art lovers who might not have the opportunity to visit New York.

Table of Contents

Foreword	8	(2)
Maxwell L. Anderson
Introduction	10	(2)
Adam D. Weinberg
The Whitney: Biography of an Institution	12	(6)
LOVE AND STRUGGLE: GERTRUDE VANDERBILT WHITNEY
Kennedy Fraser	18	(42)
VISUAL CONTEXTS FOR AMERICAN ART
John Sloan, The Picnic Grounds	60	(2)
Kate Rubin
Gaston Lachaise, Standing Woman	62	(2)
Adam D. Weinberg
Max Weber, Chinese Restaurant	64	(2)
Kate Rubin
Charles Burchfield, Noontide in Late May	66	(2)
Kate Rubin
Marsden Hartley, Landscape, New Mexico	68	(2)
Angela Kramer Murphy
John Storrs, Forms in Space #1	70	(2)
Beth Venn
Arthur Dove, The Critic	72	(2)
Beth Venn
Charles Sheeler, Interior	74	(2)
Kate Rubin
Arshile Gorky, The Artist and His Mother	76	(2)
Adam D. Weinberg
Gerald Murphy, Cocktail	78	(2)
Adam D. Weinberg
Elsie Driggs, Pittsburgh	80	(2)
Kate Rubin
Georgia O'Keeffe, The White Calico Flower	82	(2)
Angela Kramer Murphy
Charles Sheeler, River Rouge Plant	84	(2)
Angela Kramer Murphy
Grant Wood, Study for Breaking the Prairie	86	(28)
Kathryn Potts
AMERICAN ICONS INTERPRETED
Joseph Stella, The Brooklyn Bridge	114	(12)
Ellen M. Snyder-Grenier	115	(4)
Henry Petroski	119	(3)
John You	122	(4)
William J. Glackens, Hammerstein's Roof Garden	126	(10)
Kathryn Harrison	127	(3)
Lewis Erenberg	130	(3)
Brendan Gill	133	(3)
Ben Shahn, The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti	136	(10)
Alfred Kazin	137	(3)
Alan M. Dershowitz	140	(3)
Frances K. Pohl	143	(3)
George Bellows, Dempsey and Firpo	146	(12)
Elliott J. Gorn	147	(5)
George Plimpton	152	(2)
Marianne Doezema	154	(4)
Charles Demuth, My Egypt	158	(10)
Karal Ann Marling	159	(3)
Lisa Mahar	162	(3)
Maurice Berger	165	(3)
Alexander Calder, Calder's Circus	168
Howard Gardner	169	(3)
Robert Wilson	172	(1)
Neil Harris	173
Raphael Soyer, Office Girls	88	(2)
Kathryn Potts
Reginald Marsh, Twenty Cent Movie	90	(2)
Adam D. Weinberg
Burgoyne Diller, First Theme	92	(2)
Naomi Urabe
Man Ray, La Fortune	94	(2)
Beth Venn
Philip Evergood, Lily and the Sparrows	96	(2)
Angela Kramer Murphy
Theodore Roszak, Bi-Polar in Red	98	(2)
Beth Venn
Andrew Wyeth, Winter Fields	100	(2)
Adam D. Weinberg
Richard Pousette-Dart, Within the Room	102	(2)
Adam D. Weinberg
Jacob Lawrence, War Series: Another Patrol	104	(2)
Beth Venn
Thomas Hart Benton, Poker Night	106	(2)
Kathryn Potts
Edward Hopper, Seven A.M.	108	(2)
Angela Kramer Murphy
Stuart Davis, Owh! in San Pao	110	(66)
Angela Kramer Murphy
Edward Hopper, Early Sunday Morning	176	(10)
John Updike	177	(3)
Robert Adams	180	(2)
Brian O'Doherty	182	(4)
Georgia O'Keeffe, Summer Days	186	(10)
Kathleen Norris	187	(2)
Anne M. Wagner	189	(4)
Sarah Whitaker Peters	193	(3)
Elie Nadelman, Tango	196	(8)
Richard Martin	197	(3)
Martin Puryear	200	(2)
Henry Glassie	202	(2)
Marsden Hartley, Painting, Number 5	204	(10)
Peter Gay	205	(3)
Charles Eldredge	208	(3)
Patricia McDonnell	211	(3)
Acknowledgments	214	(2)
Beth Venn
Adam D. Weinberg
Notes on the Contributors	216