Bentonville Public Library responds to local, regional and national interests, expanding our collections and resources whenever possible.
With the opening of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art right here in Bentonville, BPL extends the amazing art experience to our patrons featuring a special collection in 2011 and new materials gifted to our library in 2021! Special thanks to the Alice L. Walton Foundation, the Arkansas State Library and Arkansas Center for the Book and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
In conjunction with BPL's American Art book promotion, explore the arts and tour the town with BPL's Public Art Scavenger Hunt developed by the Teen Advisory Board.
Featured American Art Books
- A Shared Legacy: Folk Art in America
- African-American Art: A Visual and Cultural History / Lisa E. Farrington
- American Architecture: A History / Leland M. Roth
- American Art of the 20th-21st Centuries / Erika Doss
- Art: The Definitive Visual Guide
- Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950s to Now / Mindy N. Besaw
- Celebrating the American Spirit: Masterworks from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art / Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
- Crystals in Art: Ancient to Today / Lauren Haynes
- Extra/Ordinary: Craft and Contemporary Art / Maria Elena Buszek
- History of Design: Decorative Arts and Material Culture, 1400-2000 / Pat Kirkham
- Makers: A History of American Studio Craft / Janet Koplos
- Men of Steel, Women of Wonder: Zero Issue / Alejo Benedetti
- Men of Steel, Women of Wonder: The Heroes We Know / Bart Beaty
- Men of Steel, Women of Wonder: Origin Stories / Erika Doss
- Men of Steel, Women of Wonder: Glimpsing Humanity / Alejo Benedetti
- Men of Steel, Women of Wonder: Defender of Innocents / Andrianna Campbell
- Native American Art in the Twentieth Century / W. Jackson Rushing III
- Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art / Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Outliers and American Vanguard Art / Lynne Cooke
- Photography in America / Miles and Orvell
- State of the Art 2020 / Lauren Haynes
- Warhol's Nature / Chad Alligood
- Women, Art and Society / Whitney Chadwick
Thank you Friends of the Bentonville Library, the Bentonville Library Foundation, the Arkansas State Library and the Northwest Arkansas Community Foundation.
General Themes
- American Art to 1900 / Sarah Burns
- American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America / Robert Hughes
- 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
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
- 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
- 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.
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
- The Momentary
- Museum of Native American History
- CACHE NWA
- 21C Museum Hotel
- 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.
Follow BPL