Dorothy Mahon

The successor to the international bestseller Vermeer, featuring groundbreaking research on the Dutch master. Even 350 years after his death, Johannes Vermeer remains an inexhaustible source of fascination for art lovers and researchers alike. Closer to Vermeer provides a captivating analysis of research conducted during and after the Rijksmuseum’s blockbuster 2023 Vermeer exhibition. The book reveals new insights into Vermeer’s creative process, materials and painting techniques, exploring the meaning of his works and his evolving fame. It also addresses intriguing questions about the maps in his interiors, the role of the camera obscura, his choice of materials and newly discovered documents about his patrons. Richly illustrated, this book offers both art historians and passionate art lovers a unique glimpse into Vermeer’s life and work and serves as an essential reference for future research on Vermeer.

City people engaging in their own brand of wit and living

A light-hearted collection of short stories that includes tall tales of Irish immigrants and Irish Americans who are all named Rose. Each Rose manages to get into a bit of trouble or is in the company of someone who leads her down the path to a sticky situation. The Irish never seem to dabble in half measures or run from an argument. All of the Irish Roses are tenacious and it is through their own ability that they meet and solve challenges facing them.

A new look at George Caleb Bingham’s iconic river paintings and his creative process in making them George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879) moved to Missouri as a child and began painting the scenes of Missouri life for which he is now famous in the 1840s. Navigating the West explores how Bingham’s iconic river paintings reveal the cultural and economic significance of the massive Mississippi and Missouri waterways to mid-19th-century society. Focusing on the artist’s working methods and preparatory drawings, the book also explores Bingham’s representations of people and places and situates these images in a dialogue with other contemporary depictions of the region. Of particular note are two landmark essays investigating Bingham’s creative process through comparisons of infrared images of 17 of his paintings with both his preparatory drawings and the completed works, casting new light on his previously understudied process. Technical analysis of the artist’s lauded masterpiece, Fur Traders Descending the Missouri, reveals Bingham’s considerable revisions to the painting. In the concluding essay, the 20th-century revival of the artist’s work is discussed within the context of American Regionalism and in light of a shifting sequence of narratives about the nation’s past and future. Distributed for the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and the Saint Louis Art MuseumExhibition Schedule:Amon Carter Museum of American Art (10/04/14–01/04/15)Saint Louis Art Museum(02/22/15–05/17/15)The Metropolitan Museum of Art (06/22/15–09/20/15)