Early Book Review: True Grit: American Prints from 1900 to 1950 by Stephanie Schrader, James Glisson, Alexander Nemerov

True Grit: American Prints from 1900 to 1950 by Stephanie Schrader, James Glisson and Alexander Nemerov is being published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center October 15, 2019, to January 19, 2020. It is currently set for release on October 22 2019.

In the first half of the twentieth century, a group of American artists influenced by the painter and teacher Robert Henri aimed to reject the pretenses of academic fine art and polite society. Embracing the democratic inclusiveness of the Progressive movement, these artists turned to making prints, which were relatively inexpensive to produce and easy to distribute. For their subject matter, the artists mined the bustling activity and stark realities of the urban centers in which they lived and worked. Their prints feature sublime towering skyscrapers and stifling city streets, jazzy dance halls and bleak tenement interiors—intimate and anonymous everyday scenes that addressed modern life in America. This exhibition and book examines a rich selection of prints by well-known figures like George Bellows, Edward Hopper, Joseph Pennell, and John Sloan as well as lesser-known artists such as Ida Abelman, Peggy Bacon, Miguel Covarrubias, and Mabel Dwight. It is written by three scholars of printmaking and American art, the essays present nuanced discussions of gender, class, literature, and politics, contextualizing the prints in the rapidly changing milieu of the first decades of twentieth-century America.

True Grit is an interesting read. Art history and interpretation is not my field of study, or even a hobby, but I love exploring new things. This book definitely fits that. I really enjoyed getting to look at works I had never seen before, and learning about the history and ideas involved in the artwork and the times. I will admit that some of the text was about something I have never really studied before, and I found it interesting but not something I will continue to research and explore. The art itself was the star for me, and why I actually requested the book to be honest. I think the essays were well written and researched. I found the information and ideas to be interesting and think that art buffs, artists, and those in the closest related fields will definitely get more out of this than I, but I am still very glad that I took a step out of my comfort zone and had the chance to look at some art I have never seen, and learn something at the same time.