Biography & Autobiography / Artists, Architects,

As a novel deeply concerned with the relationship of politics and art, this work follows the story of department store founder E. J. Kaufmann and his interactions with Mexican painter Juan O’Gorman. The narrative describes the unexpected events that led Kaufmann to commission murals from this avid Marxist and, ultimately, his failure to use them.

Samuel Rosenberg was an influential Pittsburgh-based painter and art instructor. In this biography Barbara Jones tells the story of his life, accompanied by almost ninety reproductions of the artist’s work.