Painters of the Humble Truth Masterpieces of American Still Life, 1801-1939

This reference work covers American still-life painting from the beginning of the 19th century, when it became a well-known medium of expression, to the mid-20th century. Among the artists Gerdts analyzes are those who worked with still life extensively and those who painted them only occasionally, including the Peales, Severin Roesen, Samuel Marsden Brooks, William Michael Harnett, and Georgia O'Keeffe. The effects on this form of such movements as realism, impressionism, tonalism, orphism, and modernism are discussed in detail. The study concludes with 1939, when American art began to be dominated by abstraction.