From Library Journal
A single-volume "virtual archive" of amazing proportions and precision by two dedicated scholars, this well-illustrated and meticulously documented concise biographical dictionary covers over 1000 women artists, mostly unknown. With few exceptions, these individuals are not covered by the Dictionary of Women Artists (LJ 12/97). The multitude of adventurous, mostly U.S. women painters, graphic artists, and sculptors presented here worked in or created images of the 17 westernmost contiguous American states from 1840 to 1980. Research for this volume, which took 20 years, included extensive interviews and the investigation of original documents, obituaries, and grave markers. The results reveals a commonality of lifestyle patterns, education, exhibition history, and so on. Many of the artists were peripatetic?Helen Chain (1849-92), called "Trot" by family members for her love of travel and mountain climbing, was lost at sea during a typhoon in the China Sea. There is no resource like this. Highly recommended wherever art reference is in demand.?Mary Hamel-Schwulst, Towson Univ., Millersville, MD
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
An Encyclopedia of Women Artists of the American West is a work of considerable scholarship in its own right and should serve to stimulate further research into the lives of women artists. This well-designed reference work should prove extremely useful to scholars, booksellers, and collectors.
