Books

Andrew Carnegie, industrialist and a major American philanthropist, sought to bring world-class art and culture to Pittsburgh. This book looks at how the Carnegie International exhibit came into being in 1895, the early exhibitions, the art, artists, and the public reception to it.

This unique collection features double-page spreads of Douglas Cooper’s charcoal and paper drawings, the inspiration for his artistic vision, formal properties of his art and how it relates to architecture; and essay excerpts from Pittsburgh authors: poetry, historical accounts, and stories of the daily lives of Pittsburghers. Through words and art, his work shows the urban landscape of Pittsburgh as you have never seen it before.

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.

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.

Queloides catalogs an art exhibit on the persistence of racism and racial discrimination in contemporary Cuba. Despite the social transformations implemented by the Cuban revolutionary government since the early 1960s, racism continues to be a deep wound in Cuban society, one that generates countless social and cultural scars. The twelve artists who participate in Queloides insist on the need to acknowledge and debate this social problem. Bilingual in English and Spanish, the book includes several essays that analyze the work of these visual artists in the context of changes experienced by Cuban society since the 1990s, including the resurgence of racist attitudes and behaviors.

The first history of The Carnegie Museums and Library of Pittsburgh, a cultural conglomeration that has served millions of people since its inception in 1895. Gangewere details the political turmoil, budgetary constraints, and cultural tides that have influenced the caretakers and the collections along the way. He provides individual histories of the library, music hall, museums, and science center, and describes the importance of each as an educational and research facility.

Vicky A. Clark presents a comprehensive study of the work of iconic Pittsburgh artist Robert Qualters. Complimented by over eighty color images, Clark shows Qualters to be a remarkable visual storyteller, who infuses allegory, narrative, and memory into his kinetic images filled with bold brush strokes and fauvist colors.

Robert Qualters has been named Pennsylvania Artist of the Year for 2014, as part of the Governor’s Awards for the Arts

The John and Vivian Hewitt Collection of African-American Art represents works that celebrate the expression and passion of twenty artists, including Romare Bearden, Margaret Burroughs, Jonathan Green, Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, Ann Tanksley, and Henry Ossawa Tanner. This book contains all fifty-eight works from the collection, exquisitely reproduced in full color. Grace C. Stanislaus provides a text on the significance of the collection that is supplemented by interviews with Vivian Hewitt, David Taylor of the Gantt Center, art collectors Harmon and Harriett Kelley, and Nancy Washington.

Foster analyzes the imagery of ten distinctive artists who offer a range of approaches to portraying Chicano life. The production of each artist is examined as an ideological interpretation of how Chicano experience is constructed and interpreted through the medium of photography, in sites ranging from the traditional barrio to large metropolitan societies.

A Richly Illustrated Exploration of John Kane’s Life, the Value and Dignity of Labor, and Who Decides What Is Art and What Is Not