The Unforgettables

Eminent art historian Charles C. Eldredge brings together top scholars to celebrate forgotten artists and create a more inclusive history of American art.
 
Why do some artists become canonical, while others, equally respected in their time, fall into obscurity? This question is central to The Unforgettables, a vibrant collection of essays by leading experts on American art. Each contributor presents a brief for an artist deserving of new or renewed attention, including artists from the colonial era to recent years working in a wide variety of mediums.

Histories of American art have traditionally highlighted the work of a familiar roster of artists, largely white and male. The achievements of their peers, notably women and artists of color, have gone uncelebrated. The essays in this volume provide a new and richer understanding of American art, expanding the canon to include many worthy talents. A number of these artists were acclaimed in their day; others, having missed that acclaim, may achieve it now. With contributions from major scholars and museum professionals, The Unforgettables rescues and revises reputations as it enhances and enriches the history of American art.

Charles C. Eldredge has served as Director of the Spencer Museum of Art and the Smithsonian's American Art Museum. He is a Smithsonian Research Associate and Hall Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Kansas, where he taught and published in the field of American art and culture.

Contents

Preface: Attention Must Be Paid!
Charles C. Eldredge

Introduction: Unk., Untitled, n.d., lost
Kirsten Pai Buick

MAKING FACES, AND MORE: PORTRAITS AND FIGURES, 18TH–19TH CENTURIES 

REDISCOVERING THE MODERN FIGURE

LIMNING THE LAND: TOPOGRAPHY AND TEMPERAMENT 

SPEAKING OF STILL LIFES—AND LISTENING TO THEM, TOO 

ENRICHING ABSTRACTION 

DESIGNING BEYOND THE EASEL 

Acknowledgments
List of Contributors
List of Illustrations
Index