Art of the Old South

This is a book that you will treasure, if you can find it. There is no end to the ideas you will take away from this book in relation to decoration and design as well as an invaluable reference for southern furniture, textiles, pottery, primitives, folk art, structures and architecture, and a general sense of the style of the day. 392 plates, 117 in full color. It is nicely done, written from an authoritative point of view by Jessie Poesch, Professor of Art History at Tulane University. From the inside back flap The Art of the Old South encompasses architecture, painting, scupture, and the products of craftsmen. We are given a tour of a great variety of private and public buildings-from the formal mansions and elegant townhouses that followed English fashion to the raised cottages and country houses with open porches and galleries that evolved in the region; from the slave cabin to the classic columned plantation house; as well as other structures that are of architectural interest, including churches, statehouses, banks, and hotels. Poesch's study of the paintings of the Southn include both celebrated and little-known works. Here are renderings of flora and fauna by John White, Mark Catesby, William Bartram, and John James Audubon; landscapes and city views by John Chapman, T. Addison Richards, and Hippolyte Sebron; Family portraits of the newly prosperous Southerners of the 1700s and 1800s by Jeremaih Theus, Joshua Johnson, and Thomas Sully; history paintings; nineteenth century miniatures; early genre art; and much more. Included in a study of sculpture are statues of public figures from colonial times to the eve of the Civil War, privately commissioned portrait busts, gravestones, and memorials. Also explored are the products of craftsmen-furniture, silver, needlework, and pottery. Here are the simplest handmade objects, as well as the high-style work of artisans in Baltimore, Charleston, and New Orleans. Highlighted are regional specialties such as sugar chests, huntboards, and silver trophies. The Art of the Old South is a richly informative volume written with authority and grace. Both a history of art and of the Old South, this handsome, intelligently written volume will be a treasured edition among art lovers.