A volume which embodies an entire generation of scholarship on the artist. Seurat's brief but brilliant career is traced from his early academic drawings of the 1870s to the paintings of popular entertainments and the serene landscapes of his final years.

This opulent and expansive volume, published in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's monumental exhibition Made in California: Art, Image, and Identity,1900-2000, charts the dynamic relationship between the arts and popular conceptions of California. Displaying a dazzling array of fine art and material culture, Made in California challenges us to reexamine the ways in which the state has been portrayed and imagined. Unusually inclusive, visually intriguing, and beautifully produced, this volume is a delight throughout--both in image and in text--and will appeal to anyone who has lived in, visited, or imagined California.

Edited by Joanne Asala, the stories are vividly and dramatically interpreted and portrayed in the paper-cuts (wycinaki) by Alice Wadowski-Bak, noted paper-cut and folkore artist.¶The work of Alice Wadowski-Bak, native of Niagara Falls, New York, is found in private collections and galleries worldwide. The art of wycinanki appeared in Poland in the middle of the 1800s, especially in rural areas where sheep shears were readily available. The method of folding, layering, coloring, and overlay is related to the ancient Chinese art of the block print. Artist Wadowski-Bak explores both wycinanki and oriental stencil cutting. Her origianl designs for this book attest to her exquisite artistry.¶This is a treasure of folk art and lore. A very special gift for personal collections.This book of engaging folk stories includes such tales as "The Violin," "The Headache Cure," "Midsummer's Eve," "The Flower Queen's Daughter," "The Legend of the North Wind," "The Flaming Castle," "The Village Dance," and "The Unfinished Tune."The stories were collected by Joanne Asala, with wycinanki (paper-cutting) illustrations by Polish-American artist Alice Wadowski-Bak.

While the Ottoman Empire stands poised to overrun all of Europe at Vienna in 1683, young Aleksy, a Tatar peasant and expert archer, nurtures dreams of becoming a hussar, one of the elite Polish winged horsemen, and of pursuing the beautiful Countess Krystyna, both impossible quests. One day he must choose which dream to pursue.