Past Time: Geology in European and American Art

Poughkeepsie, NY and London, England: Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College; D. Giles Limited, 2018. 144 pages, illustrations (some colour); 29 cm. This catalogue accompanies the exhibition "Past Time: Geology in European and American Art", on display at The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York from September 21-December 9, 2018, and at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York from February 16-May 12, 2019. Firm binding, clean inside copy. Dust jacket protected in a mylar cover. OVERSIZE! No priority/international, except by arrangement. Richly illustrated with colour plates. "This is a beautifully illustrated, interdisciplinary volume which explores how European and American artists of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries revealed a compelling interest in dramatic geologic phenomena: caves and natural arches, boulders and rock formations, mountains, glaciers, volcanoes, and cliffs. From a topographical, often strata-focused means to a later mode that evoked natures great transformational powers over time, European and American artists pursued their cross-cultural travels in seeking geological wonders. The authors address the importance and history of geology, the most popular science of the 1800s. 'Past Time' features a combination of outstanding drawings, watercolours, and brilliant oil sketches and studies, with works by Asher B Durand, Frederic Church, John Singer Sargent, Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, J. M. W. Turner, Joseph Wright of Derby, and Thomas Rowlandson, amongst many others. This volume is a great addition to the currently available publications on the relationship between the growth of natural science and the interest amongst artists in capturing and presenting scientific phenomena and an ever-changing earth." - Publisher. CONTENTS: Foreword, by James Mundy; Acknowledgments, by Patricia Phagan; Lenders to the exhibition; An introduction, by Patricia Phagan; Visual language: the complementarity of geology and art, by Jill S. Schneiderman; Catalogue, by Patricia Phagan. Caves and natural arches; Rocks and rock formations; Mountains, glaciers, and volcanoes; Cliffs; Notes to the entries; Selected bibliography; Index.. 1st. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. 4to. Collectible.