Bentonville Public Library

Bentonville Public Library strives to support community interest by expanding our collection whenever possible.  With the opening of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art right here in Bentonville, we want to extend the amazing Crystal Bridges experience to our patrons as much as we can!  Research your favorite artist or learn about artistic movements such as the Hudson River School.  Special thanks to our Friends of the Library for generously donating $2,500 toward BPL’s art collection. 

If you have questions or need assistance with our American Art resources, please contact BPL’s Reference Desk at 479-271-6815 or email library@bentonvillear.com.   

eLearning | Books | Magazines | Videos | Websites

 Books

General Themes

• American Art Since 1945 / David Joselit
• American Art to 1900 / Sarah Burns
• American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America / Robert Hughes
• American Art: Masterpieces from the Smithsonian / Theresa Slowik
• Framing America: A Social History of American Art / Frances Pohl
• Modern Art in the USA: Issues and Controversies / Patricia Hills
• Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts / essays by Mark Hain
• The Great American Thing / Wanda Corn

American Art

• A Concise History of American Painting and Sculpture / Matthew Baigell
• American Art: History & Culture / Wayne Craven
• Reading American Art / Marianne Doezema
• Essential History of American Art / Suzanne Bailey
• Understanding Art / Lois Fichner-Rathus

Colonial Era

• Gilbert Stuart / Carrie Rebora Barratt
• Life and Work of John Singleton Copley / Frank Bayley

American Indians

• George Catlin and His Indian Gallery / George Catlin

Romanticism

• American Wilderness: Story of Hudson River School / Barbara Millhouse
• American Landscapes of Asher B. Durand / Linda S. Ferber
• Audubon Reader / John James Audubon
• Hudson River School: Nature & the American Vision / Linda Ferber
• Frederic Edwin Church: Romantic Landscapes & Seascapes / Gerald Carr
• George Inness: Writings & Reflections on Art & Philosophy / Adrienne Bell
• John James Audubon: The Making of an American / Richard Rhodes
• Life and Times of Asher B. Durand / John Durand

Luminism & Hudson River School

• Fitz H. Lane: Artist’s Voyage Through 19th Century America / James Craig
  
• Frederic Church, Winslow Homer, & Thomas Moran / Barbara Bloemink

Eakins, Homer & Heade: Everyday Life after the Civil War

• A Summer of Hummingbirds / Christopher Benfey
• George de Forest Brush: The Indian Paintings / Nancy Anderson
• Eakins Revealed: The Secret Life of an American Artist / Henry Adams
• Thomas Eakins: Art, Medicine, & Sexuality in 19th Century / Amy Werbel
• Watercolors of Winslow Homer / Winslow Homer

New Century

• Touch of Blossom: John Singer Sargent & Queen Flora / Alison Syme
• John Singer Sargent / Carter Ratcliff
• Mary Cassatt: A Life / Nancy Mowll Mathews

Regionalism

• After Many Springs: Regionalism, Modernism, & Midwest / Debra Balken
• An American Experiment / David Peters Corbett
• George Bellows: An Artist in Action / Mary Sayre Haverstock
• John Sloan’s New York / Heather Campbell Coyle
• Life’s Pleasures: The Ashcan Artists’ Brush with Leisure / James Tottis
• Renegade Regionalists / James Dennis
• Eight and American Modernisms / Elizabeth Kennedy
• Picturing the City: Urban Vision & the Ashcan School / Rebecca Zurier
• Tom and Jack: Intertwined Lives of Thomas Benton & Jackson Pollock / Henry Adams

American Modernism

• Arthur Dove: A Retrospective / Debra Bricker Balken
• Charles Sheeler: Across Media / Charles Brock
• Chimneys and Towers: Charles Demuths’ Late Paintings / Betsy Fahlman
• John Marin’s Watercolors: a Medium for Modernism / Martha Tedeschi
• Marsden Hartley: American Modernist / Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser

Post World War II

• Abstract Expressionism & the American Experience: a Reevalution / Iving Sander
• Arshile Gorky / Matthew Gale
• Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work / Hayden Herrera
• Jasper Johns: An Allegory of Painting, 1955-1965 / John Elderfield
• John Baldessari: Pure Beauty / Jessica Morgan
• Lee Krasner: A Biography / Gail Levin
• Lynda Benglis / Les Presses du Reel
• Painting Harlem Modern: The Art of Jacob Lawrence / Patricia Hills
• Postmodern Art: 1945-Now / Francesco Poli

Pop and Minimalism

• Pop / Mark Francis
• Pop Art: A Critical History / Steven Henry Madoff

The New American Landscape

• Joan Mitchell: Lady Painter / Patricia Albers
• Kara Walker: Bureau of Refugees / Kara Walker
• Nick Cave: Meet Me at the Center of the Earth / Dan Cameron

Nature

• Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education / David Sobel
• The Nature Handbook: A Guide to Observing the Great Outdoors / Ernest Herbert Williams.
• Into the Field: A Guide to Locally Focused Teaching / John Tallmadge

Reference

• The Dictionary of Art / edited by Jane Turner, Grove Publishing
• Gardner’s Art Through the Ages / Fred Kleiner
• Oxford Dictionary of Art / edited by Ian Chilvers

 Magazines

• American Artist
  Combines ideas and inspiration with respected editorial, in-depth profiles and numerous informative columns.
• American Style
  Lifestyle magazine featuring contemporary art and artists, galleries, collectors, and arts travel and tourism.
• Art in America
  Art in America creates a fascinating picture of the ever-changing art scene both in the U.S. and abroad.
• Art & Antiques
  Offers the latest news in fine art and antiques. Regularly features gallery and contemporary art opening reviews, articles on the domestic and international market, antique values and features artists and their works.
• Artist’s Magazine
  Artist’s Magazine gives artists ideas, inspiration and instruction.
• ARTnews
  ARTnews reports on the art, personalities, issues, trends and events shaping the international art world.
• Communication Arts
  Professional journal for designers, art directors, design firms illustrators, advertising agencies, photographers, students and everyone involved in visual communication.
• Interior Design
  Interior Design offers the latest design trends and ideas, from contemporary architecture to green design.
• Popular Photography
  Packed with great photos, how-to tips, lab tests of the latest equipment, and expert advice on getting the most out of every shot.
• Smithsonian
  History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places.
• Watercolor
  Watercolor offers advice, instruction and inspiration to water media artists of all styles and subjects. The magazine profiles the artists and their techniques.

 Videos

• Arkansas Portraits: A Look at Art Made by Arkansans
  To educate the public on the variety and high caliber of a few of Arkansas' more well-known artists and craftsmen.
• How Art Made the World 
  Probes the global trend for unrealistic depictions of the human body; the secret powers of the feature film; how politicians manipulate people, death and the afterlife; and, why we use imagery at all.
• Bomb It: Street Art is Revolution
  Graffiti, once deemed a subversive act, has been growing in popularity in the last few decades. Now we see it in video games and mainstream media, and the work itself mounted on gallery walls.
• Art: 21, Art in the 21st Century (Seasons 1-4)
  Features a myriad of painters, photographers, sculptors, and performance and video artists who use a wide variety of media and materials, tools and processes, to create their work.
• Black White + Gray: A portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe
  Wagstaff pulled Mapplethorpe him from his suburban Queens existence, gave him a camera and brought him into this art world that seemed to be waiting for him.
• The Private Life of a Masterpiece: the Complete Seasons 1-5
  Reveals the stories behind the creation of significant artworks.

 Recommended Sites

• Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
• Smithsonian American Art Museum
• Archives of American Art
• Whitney Museum of American Art
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art – American Wing
• The Art Institute of Chicago – American Collection
• Baltimore Museum of Art – American Collection
• Museum of Fine Arts Boston – Art of the Americas Wing
• Philadelphia Museum of Art – American Art

About Recommended Sites

Our goal is to provide you with educational, entertaining and reliable information on the internet. All web content should be viewed with a discerning eye for accuracy, authorship and currency. Please note, by providing these web links for easy access, inclusion does not imply endorsement by Bentonville Library.