Winslow Homer An American vision

As author of Homer, Eakins & Anshutz: The Search for American Identity in the Gilded Age (CH, Dec'04, 42-2006), Griffin (Southern Methodist Univ.) approaches this chronological monograph with common sense, in-depth scholarly knowledge, and a willingness to offer his own perspectives on Homer while acknowledging contrary views by art historical colleagues. Full of abundant color illustrations as well as comparative images, Griffin's study provides a highly accessible overview of a complicated artist without oversimplification. His well-written prose ably interweaves biography, cultural contexts, artistic influences, and analyses of individual works. A strength of this study is the reference to popular imagery, particularly prints published by Currier and Ives. Griffin's perceptive discussion of The Cotton Pickers demonstrates how patronage, conventions, contemporary reviews, and pictorial details can illuminate the ambiguous meanings of Homer's art. Other works, including The Gulf Stream and the Houghton Farm pictures, do not receive the complex iconographic readings and political-social contextualizing that they deserve, even in the footnotes. There are several editorial slip-ups with missing words and misspellings; factual mistakes include putting John Kensett in his grave one year early. Overall, an excellent monographic introduction to Homer. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates through faculty; scholars new to Homer studies. J. Simon University of Georgia

It is seemingly not possible to have too many books devoted to iconic American artist Winslow Homer. In the past decade, scholars have examined the minutiae of Homer's life, revealing internal and external influences, conscious and unconscious motives, and every social and cultural stimulus that might have shaped his art. Added to this considerable mass of scholarship is a new monograph by Griffin (art history, Southern Methodist Univ.; Homer, Eakins & Anshutz: The Search for American Identity in the Gilded Age). What can Griffin possibly add to this flood of information? The answer is an eminently readable text that considers past scholarly discourses but, ultimately, like Nicolai Cikosky and Franklin Kelly's groundbreaking catalog, Winslow Homer, looks at the artist through the entire range of art he created. Griffin reemphasizes Homer's European and Japanese influences and adds revealing insights into the artist's use of pop-culture imagery in his works. With 140-plus color and 50 black-and-white images, this is recommended for all libraries with holdings in American art history.-Kraig Binkowski, Yale Ctr. for British Art (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.