Texas Collects: Fine Art, Furniture, Windmills, and Whimseys by Nathan, Paul; Michener, James (Foreword) - 1988

Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.: Taylor Publishing, 1988. Book. Fine. Hardcover. Folio - over 12" - 15" tall. Near-new copy of this over-sized and heavy hardback. NO remainder marks or price clippings. Price inside dustcover: $45.00. NO writing or tears inside book. Tight spine, bright pages. Beautifully illustrated throughout. 216 pages. Publishers Weekly PW 's Rights columnist Nathan had the bright idea of chronicling remarkable art collections, both personal and public, in a state renowned for wealthy and often eccentric collectors. As honorary Texan Michener notes in his foreword, much of the most notable art in Texas is to be seen in private homes rather than museums, which have only recently begun to rival institutions elsewhere in the country in the quality of their holdings. Nathan here assembles his own beguiling collection, ranging from the eclectic accumulation of the immortally named Ima Hogg to that of the undeniably ostentatious Wendy Reves, who gave a priceless group of holdings to the Dallas Museum of Art with the proviso that it be housed in a replica of the rooms in her Mediterranean villa. The profiles of collectors and collections are chatty, nicely varied, informative. Also included are 200 color pictures (only some of which were seen by PW ) to illustrate the collections in all their diversity. This is at once social history and art bookand likely to be of inter est far beyond Texas borders..