Library Staff Directory
Posted Jul 24, 2015
Did you know that the Shorewood Library has an extensive art collection? That's right, we've got all the BIG books you could ever need. We have titles featuring art in general, artists' monographs, and instruction books that illustrate style and technique. Blown up and often faithfully reproduced, you can enjoy artwork throughout the ages and from around the world with the flip of a page. And, while you may not want to carry these tomes home, you can always spread them out in one of our study tables or in the comfort of one of our lounging chairs. Browse away, art lovers!
Frida Kahlo by Salomon Grimberg
Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) is recognized as one of the world’s most popular female artists. With over 200 paintings, many of them self-portraits, Kahlo simultaneously captured her life and traditional Mexican culture with color and theatrics. Suffering extreme physical trauma (a traffic accident) as well as emotional turbulence (an on and off again marriage with muralist, Diego Rivera), Kahlo’s work is embedded a unique sense of sentimentality. Grimberg includes both biography and photographs to explore Kahlo’s life and work. (Fun fact: Kahlo never considered her art to be “surreal” because she always felt she painted her reality.)
George Bellows: An Artist in Action by Mary Sayre Haverstock
George Bellows (1882-1925) was one of the founding artists of the Ashcan School, an American movement in art that relished in the real and rebelled against American Impressionism. Featuring an array of urban life street scenes and select portraits, Bellows had a knack for depicting prizefighters and athletes with dynamic motion and textured brush strokes. Haverstock uses 70 paintings and 20 lithographs along with biographical text to paint a portrait of Bellows life and times. (Fun fact: Bellows was actually a semi-professional baseball player before devoting his short life to art. He died at age 42.)
Thomas Hart Benton: An American Original by Henry Adams
Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) was an American modernist painter and muralist depicting the rural landscapes and people of the Midwest. With colorful, three-dimensional forms, Benton’s work captures the whimsical culture of the south with poignant social commentary such as diatribes against the Ku Klux Klan and World War II fascism. Adams’ monograph features a full-length biography and numerous color plates that help illustrate Benton’s distinctive folk style with a contemporary twist. (Also, fun fact: Benton was the instructor of the well-recognized abstract expressionist painter, Jackson Pollock.)
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