New notable additions to AA/PG library in March

Clair, Jean, ed.  The
1930s: The Making of “The New Man”.  Ottawa:
National Gallery of Canada, 2008.

N6493 1930 .N38 2008

Catalog of an exhibition held at the National Gallery of
Canada. 

Between the stock market crash of 1929 and the beginning of
World War II in 1939 artists were fascinated with biology and many used
biomorphic forms, images of cells, and the idea of the primordial egg.  Inspiration by the idea of generation and metamorphosis
helped develop a new aesthetic revival.  However
these same issues were also reflected in politics which resulted in a new
interest in eugenics and racism which had unprecedented consequences
for society.  This exhibition addresses
the issue of biology in both art and politics during this turbulent decade.

Goldstein, Ann.  Martin
Kippenberger: The Problem Perspective. 
Los Angeles: MOCA, 2008.

N40.1.K573 M87 2008

Catalog of an exhibition held at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

German artist Martin Kippenberger (1953–1997) who started as
a painter but then moved to painting, photography, and collage, created a wide
range of work from the mid-1970s until his death in 1997. Kippenberger also
produced installations focused on the role of the artist, the values of culture
in the West, and the nature of human rationality. The catalogue documents the first
major retrospective exhibition of the artist’s work in the United States and
features works spanning the artist’s entire career.

Bauerlein, Mark and
Ellen Grantham, eds.  National Endowment for the Arts: A History
1965-2008.  Washington, DC: NEA,
2009.

NX735 .N384 2009

Also available online: http://www.nea.gov/pub/nea-history-1965-2008.pdf

This publication provides a concise, comprehensive account
of the history of the National Endowment for the Arts.  It documents the agency's major activities
since its creation by the United States Congress in 1965.  The book provides a survey of major programs
and influential personnel as well as the evolving role of the agency in the
cultural and political life of the United States.  Also included are overviews of the agency's
impact on dance, literature, media arts, museums, music, opera, theater, and
visual arts.

Howard, Hugh.  The
Painter’s Chair: George Washington and the Making of American Art.  New York: Bloomsbury, 2009.

N7628.W3 H42 2009

Howard Hugh asserts that George Washington, as a patron to
some of the most prominent American artists of his day, helped give birth to
American painting.  Washington’s multiple
depictions, many by the same artist such as Gilbert Stuart, continued to
influence portraiture in the United States even after his death.  The author examines different aspects of
Washington’s character and personality as depicted through portraiture during
the years.

Dean, Robert and Erin
Wright.  Edward Ruscha: Catalogue Raisonné
of the Paintings, volume three: 1983-1987.

N40.1.R947 G34 2003

Ed Ruscha is one of the most important artists associated with
West Coast Pop art.   This is the third volume of the catalog of his entire
painted oeuvre. Every painting is reproduced in color with exhibition and
bibliographic history. The artist's sketches for paintings are also reproduced. During the 1980s Ruscha
continued to explore the image, combining and isolating them in his work.  One of his most important works, a commission
to design murals for the Miami-Dade Public Library, designed by Philip Morris and
John Burgee was is documented in this volume. The catalogue raisonné also includes a
chronology and a comprehensive bibliography and list of exhibitions.

—Doug Litts