Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay Reflections on Art, Family, and Survival

"An unforgettable voyage across the reaches and the depths of memory, Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay tells the story of America's artistic birth. Following his family back through the generations, renowned critic Christopher Benfey unearths an ancestry--and an aesthetic--that is quintessentially American. His mother descends from colonial craftsmen, such as the Quaker artist-explorer William Bartram. Benfey's father--along with his aunt and uncle, the famed Bauhaus artists Josef and Anni Albers--escaped from Nazi Europe by fleeing to the American South. Struggling to find themselves in this new world, Benfey's family found strength and salvation in the rich craft tradition grounded in America's vast natural landscape. Threading these stories together into a radiant and mesmerizing harmony, Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay is an extraordinary quest to the heart of America and the origins of its art"--Provided by publisher.