The fascinating story of the transformation of American watercolor practice between 1866 and 1925 The formation of the American Watercolor Society in 1866 by a small, dedicated group of painters transformed the perception of what had long been considered a marginal medium. Artists of all ages, styles, and backgrounds took up watercolor in the 1870s, inspiring younger generations of impressionists and modernists. By the 1920s many would claim it as "the American medium." This engaging and comprehensive book tells the definitive story of the metamorphosis of American watercolor practice between 1866 and 1925, identifying the artist constituencies and social forces that drove the new popularity of the medium. The major artists of the movement - Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, William Trost Richards, Thomas Moran, Thomas Eakins, Charles Prendergast, Childe Hassam, Edward Hopper, Charles Demuth, and many others - are represented with lavish color illustrations. The result is a fresh and beautiful look at watercolor's central place in American art and culture.

"In the 1870s and 1880s, artists' societies promoted watercolors as attractive, decorative, inexpensive alternatives to oils, successfully elevating them to the mainstream of American art. Based in New York City, this American watercolor movement paved the way for larger, more seriously received exhibition watercolors, and for a broad turn-of-the-century effort by public institutions - among them the Brooklyn Museum of Art - to acquire American works in the medium." "Highlighting 150 paintings that span nearly two centuries, this richly illustrated volume documents the origin and development of one of the nation's finest collections by investigating for the first time aspects of American watercolor's patronage and critical reception." "Less often displayed than oils because of their sensitivity to light, watercolors nevertheless have enjoyed a lively, complex history. Illuminating well-known works as well as many that have never before been reproduced, Masters of Color and Light showcases an array of paintings that range far beyond watercolor's early reputation as the "lighter and daintier" medium."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Features the most beautiful watercolors in the impressive collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The authors survey the development of the medium and discuss each painting to provide, in aggregate, a history of American watercolors that has become the standard reference on the subject.

Celebrating the great American watercolor, this unique collection of images features the work of Sargent, Homer, LaFarge, Prendergast, Demuth, Marin, Burchfield, and Hopper, among others. Original.

A generously illustrated gathering of many rarely-seen watercolors by a painter best known for his oils who was also a master of the very difficult medium of watercolor. The book includes 150 4-color images, along with an introductory essay and brief section introductions.

"An examination of how the work of the American painter John Singer Sargent was displayed, collected, and influential in the civic and cultural development of Chicago, Illinois during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries"--