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American Portrait and Mourning Miniatures
Robin Jaffe Frank
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Format: ClothPrice: $42.00
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Portrait miniatures, small enough to fit in the palm of the hand, are unique among works of art for their highly personal associations. At the height of their American popularity, from 1760 to about 1840, these cherished portraits were frequently commissioned as a way to hold on to absent loved ones. This beautifully illustrated book reproduces and discusses some one hundred portrait and mourning miniatures. Robin Jaffee Frank examines the miniatures in detail, offering new insights into their role in American art and social history. Through painstaking detective work, she uncovers the stories of the people who sat for them and the people who treasured them, restoring to these intimate tokens their power to move us.
Portrait miniatures were most often painted in watercolor on thin disks of ivory. They were sometimes worn as jewelry, sometimes framed to be viewed privately. Many were painted by specialists, although renowned easel artists—including Benjamin West, John Singleton Copley, and Charles Willson Peale—also created them to commemorate births, engagements, marriages, deaths, and other joinings or separations. The book traces the development of this exquisite art form, revealing the close ties between the history of the miniature and the history of American private life.
Portrait miniatures were most often painted in watercolor on thin disks of ivory. They were sometimes worn as jewelry, sometimes framed to be viewed privately. Many were painted by specialists, although renowned easel artists—including Benjamin West, John Singleton Copley, and Charles Willson Peale—also created them to commemorate births, engagements, marriages, deaths, and other joinings or separations. The book traces the development of this exquisite art form, revealing the close ties between the history of the miniature and the history of American private life.
Copublished with the Yale University Art Gallery
Robin Jaffee Frank is associate curator of American paintings and sculpture at the Yale University Art Gallery.
“This small volume fills the eye with luminous and evocative illustrations, revealing rich detail while preserving the intimate scale of the object and the internal poetry of the private gaze. To place the miniatures in the social and private lives of a nation and its people, Frank crafts a meticulously documented text from abundant sources. . . . . Her method well represents the formidable position of material culture studies within the field of American art history.”—Laura L. Meixner, American 19th Century History
“This beautifully illustrated book reproduces and discusses some one hundred portrait and mourning miniatures. . . . Robin Jaffee Frank examines the miniatures in detail, offering new insights into their role in American art and social history. Through painstaking detective work, she uncovers the stories of the people who sat for them and the people who treasured them, restored to these intimate tokens their power to move us. . . . The book traces the development of this exquisite art form, revealing the close ties between the history of the miniature and the history of the American private life.”—Antiques Journal
“Fascinating art history that makes for a near-perfect book to while away the hours with.”—Booklist
“All the most valued virtues are assembled her in charming detail: devotion, beauty, gentleness and wealth.”—Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Lavishly illustrated with stunning colour photographs (many of which are exquisite details), and written in a clear and engaging style with copious endnotes, Robin Jaffee Frank has fashioned an interesting and informative text on the history of miniatures in America.”—Mortality
ISBN: 9780300087246
Publication Date: September 10, 2000
Publishing Partner: Copublished with the Yale University Art Gallery
Publication Date: September 10, 2000
Publishing Partner: Copublished with the Yale University Art Gallery
376 pages, 5 1/4 x 6 3/4
50 b/w + 150 color illus.
50 b/w + 150 color illus.
