Zinc Sculpture In America 1850 1950

Introduced in the United States as a new material for statuary in the mid-nineteenth century, zinc has properties that allowed replication at low cost. It was used to produce modestly priced serial sculpture displayed throughout the nation on fountains, public monuments, and war memorials. Imitative finishes created the illusion of more costly bronze, stone, or polychrome wood. This first comprehensive overview of American zinc sculpture is interdisciplinary, engaging aspects of art history, popular culture, local history, technology, and art conservation. Included is a generously illustrated catalogue presenting more than eight hundred statues organized by type: trade figures and Indians, gods and goddesses, fountain figures, animals, famous men, military figures, firemen, cemetery memorials, and religous subjects. The compilation of data on these statues will be valuable to scholars, filling the current void in research libraries. The author's experience as a conservator will also make the an essential resource for historic preservationists seeking to repair statues now damaged by years of outdoor exposure. This book has 555 illustrations, 354 of which are in color. Carol Grissom is Senior Objects Conservator at the Smithsonian's Museum Conservation Institute.

This practical guide provides artists, conservators, curators, and other heritage professionals with tools for understanding, evaluating, and approaching the care and treatment of modern metals. The proliferation of new metals—such as stainless steels, aluminum alloys, and metallic coatings—in modern and contemporary art and architecture has made the need for professionals who can address their conservation more critical than ever. This volume seeks to bridge the gap between the vast technical literature on metals and the pressing needs of conservators, curators, and other heritage professionals without a metallurgy background. It offers practical information in a simple and direct way, enabling curators, conservators, and artists alike to understand and evaluate the objects under their care. This invaluable reference reframes information formerly found only in specialized technical and industrial publications for the context of cultural heritage conservation. As the first book to address the properties, testing, and maintenance issues of the hundreds of metals and alloys available since the beginning of the twentieth century, it is destined to become an essential resource for conservators, artists, fabricators, curators, collectors, and anyone working with modern metals.

ZINC SURFACES THE LEADING RESOURCE FOR ARCHITECTS, DESIGNERS, AND ARTISTS WORKING WITH ZINC Zinc Surfaces: A Guide to Alloys, Finishes, Fabrication and Maintenance in Architecture and Art combines the latest guidance and information about zinc surfaces into a single and comprehensive resource for architects and artists everywhere. The fifth book in the author’s authoritative Architectural Metals Series, Zinc Surfaces offers a highly visual, full-color guide to ensure architects and design professionals have the information they need to properly maintain and fabricate zinc surfaces. Numerous case studies illuminate and highlight the theoretical principles contained within. Full of concrete strategies and practical advice, Zinc Surfaces provides readers with complete information on topics including: The use of zinc in architecture The history of zinc’s use in design How to choose the right alloy for your purposes Surface and chemical finishes Corrosion resistance of various alloys This book is perfect for architecture professionals, metal fabricators and developers, architecture students and instructors, and designers and artists working with metals.

Redressing the neglect of World War I memorials in art history scholarship and memory studies, Sculpting Doughboys considers the hundreds of sculptures of American soldiers that dominated the nation's sculptural commemorative landscape after World War I. To better understand these 'doughboys', the name given to both members of the American Expeditionary Forces and the memorials erected in their image, this volume also considers their sculptural alternatives, including depictions of motherhood, nude male allegories, and expressions of anti-militarism. It addresses why doughboy sculptures came to occupy such a significant presence in interwar commemoration, even though art critics objected to their unrefined realism, by considering the social upheavals of the Red Scare, America's burgeoning consumer and popular culture, and the ambitions and idiosyncrasies of artists and communities across the country. In doing so, this study also highlights the social and cultural tensions of the period as debates grew over art's changing role in society and as more women and immigrant sculptors vied for a place and a voice in America's public sphere. Finally, Sculpting Doughboys addresses the fate of these memorials nearly a century after they were dedicated and poses questions for reframing our relationship with war memorials today.

A Graveyard Preservation Primer has proven itself to be a time-tested resource for those who are seeking information regarding the protection and preservation of historic graveyards. It was first written to help stewards of early burial grounds responsibly and effectively preserve their graveyards. Much information found in the first edition of the book remains valid today. Still, much has changed in the twenty-five years since its first publication, and the new edition reflects these changes. Attitudes and the understanding of historic graveyards as an important cultural resource have grown and developed over the years. Likewise, changes in treatments have also taken place. Perhaps the most dramatic change in burial ground preservation is in the world of technology. Changes in computers and the way we use them have also changed preservation practices in historic graveyards. Discussion of technological changes in the new edition includes those in mapping, surveying, photography, archaeology, and other areas of evaluation and planning. Consideration is given, too, to maintenance and conservation treatments, including both traditional and newer treatments for stone, concrete, and metals. Metals were not discussed in the earlier editions, and protection and preservation of the landscape as it relates to graveyards is an expanded focus of this book. The historic preservation of cemeteries and burial grounds is an aspect within the discipline of historic preservation that is unknown to many. Those whose responsibility is the care of these historic sites may be unfamiliar with appropriate approaches to such areas as documentation, planning, maintenance, and conservation. Unwitting personnel can do irreparable harm to these important cultural resources. The Primer is an effort to protect historic cultural resources by breaching the gap between maintenance staff, cemetery boards, friends’ groups, and graveyard preservation professionals by offering readily available, responsible information regarding graveyard protection and preservation. It is also designed to assist those who would undertake a preservation project in the reclaiming of a neglected or abandoned historic cemetery. The book is generously illustrated with diagrams and photos illustrating procedures and gravemarker and graveyard forms, styles, and materials. The appendix section is completely updated and expanded, offering a worthwhile resource in itself.

Monuments honoring leaders and victorious armies have been raised throughout history. Following the American Civil War, however, this tradition expanded, and by the early twentieth century, the Confederate dead and surviving veterans, although defeated in battle, ranked among the world's most commemorated troops. This memorialization, described in North Carolina Civil War Monuments, evolved through a challenging and contentious process accomplished over decades. Prompted by the need to rebury wartime dead, memorialization, led by women, first expressed regional grief and mourning then expanded into a vital aspect of Southern memory. In North Carolina, 109 Civil War monuments--101 honoring Confederate troops and eight commemorating Union forces--were raised prior to the Civil War centennial. Photographs showcase each memorial while committee records, legal documents, and contemporaneous accounts are used to detail the difficult process through which these monuments were erected. Their design, location, and funding reflect not only the period's sculptural and cultural milieu but also reveal one state's evolving grief and the forging of public memory.

November 1891, the heart of Gilded Age Manhattan. Thousands filled the streets surrounding Madison Square, fingers pointing, mouths agape. After countless struggles, Stanford White—the country’s most celebrated architect was about to dedicate America’s tallest tower, the final cap set atop his Madison Square Garden, the country’s grandest new palace of pleasure. Amid a flood of electric light and fireworks, the gilded figure topping the tower was suddenly revealed—an eighteen-foot nude sculpture of Diana, the Roman Virgin Goddess of the Hunt, created by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the country’s finest sculptor and White’s dearest pal. The Grandest Madison Square Garden tells the remarkable story behind the construction of the second, 1890, Madison Square Garden and the controversial sculpture that crowned it. Set amid the magnificent achievements of nineteenth-century American art and architecture, the book delves into the fascinating private lives of the era’s most prominent architect and sculptor and the nature of their intimate relationship. Hinman shows how both men pushed the boundaries of America’s parochial aesthetic, ushering in an era of art that embraced European styles with American vitality. Situating the Garden’s seminal place in the history of New York City, as well as the entire country, The Grandest Madison Square Garden brings to life a tale of architecture, art, and spectacle amid the elegant yet scandal-ridden culture of Gotham’s decadent era.

Before the Museums Came: A Social History of the Fine Arts in the Twin Cities gives an engaging portrayal of the fine arts scene of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota in the United States, spanning from the appearance of the earliest artists in 1835 to the opening of the first permanent museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 1915. Readers will learn about the institutions and organizations that were created in support of the fine arts, the early art exhibitions and events, and the collectors, dealers and artists whose efforts made all of that come to fruition. The text – enriched and supplemented by reproductions of artworks, photographs of various personages, exhibition venues, studios, art galleries, catalogues, and ephemera – presents a clear understanding of the period and breaks new ground for future scholars to research. Leo John Harris had pursued three different careers before retiring to follow yet another vocation, this time as a writer. He served in the U.S. Department of State and Foreign Service; he was an international lawyer; and he founded a niche publishing house devoted to books on the arts, history, and popularculture. In his retirement he has written articles and books on philately, the arts and regional history, and this passion has now resulted in a well-researched and richly illustrated publication.