Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the National Sculpture Society, this important history traces America's rich heritage of figurative sculpture from the Columbian exposition of 1893 to the present. Illustrated with outstanding examples of American figurative sculpture of the last century, this volume begins with an analysis of the influence of the Beaux-Arts tradition on the creation of the great public monuments of the young republic. With this background, the book moves on to survey important categories of sculpture chronologically. Equestrian monuments and countless tributes to war heroes are surveyed in one category. In another important grouping, author David Martin Reynolds surveys portrait sculpture. He also includes a section on medallic art, a category usually neglected in sculpture surveys. In another innovation, Dr. Reynolds devotes a chapter to American Indians, both as widely favored subjects for sculpture and as sculptors themselves. Not neglecting genre, the author deals extensively with the large group of sculptors who concentrated on animals. Finally he surveys the figurative tradition in the twentieth century and speculates on future trends in sculpture. Donald Martin Reynolds teaches at the School of Architecture, Columbia University, in New York City and is the author of many articles and books on sculpture, including Monuments and Masterpieces, which was favorably reviewed in the New York Times Book Reviews. 210 illustrations

Volume One: This volume catalogues the distinguished and comprehensive collection of approximately 400 works of American sculpture by artists born before 1865. This publication includes an introduction on the history of the collection's formation, particularly in the context of the Museum's early years of acquisitions, and discusses the outstanding personalities involved. --Metropolitan Museum of Art website.

In 'Art in America: A Critical and Historical Sketch', S. G. W. Benjamin offers a look at the evolution of American art, from its earliest beginnings to the late 19th century. Through critical analysis of various artists and their works, Benjamin expertly traces the progression of American art and its place within the broader context of international art. While he focuses primarily on American artists working in the U.S., he also includes a discussion of American sculptors working in Europe. An essential read for anyone interested in the history and development of American art.

Nineteenth-century neoclassical sculpture was a highly politicized international movement. Based in Rome, many expatriate American sculptors created works that represented black female subjects in compelling and problematic ways. Rejecting pigment as dangerous and sensual, adherence to white marble abandoned the racialization of the black body by skin color. In The Color of Stone, Charmaine A. Nelson brilliantly analyzes a key, but often neglected, aspect of neoclassical sculpture--color. Considering three major works--Hiram Powers's Greek Slave, William Wetmore Story's Cleopatra, and Edmonia Lewis's Death of Cleopatra--she explores the intersection of race, sex, and class to reveal the meanings each work holds in terms of colonial histories of visual representation as well as issues of artistic production, identity, and subjectivity. She also juxtaposes these sculptures with other types of art to scrutinize prevalent racial discourses and to examine how the black female subject was made visible in high art. By establishing the centrality of race within the discussion of neoclassical sculpture, Nelson provides a model for a black feminist art history that at once questions and destabilizes canonical texts. Charmaine A. Nelson is assistant professor of art history at McGill University.