The Art of Joan Brown
This rich volume, with outstanding color plates and illustrations, is at once an exhibition catalog and the first monograph devoted to the too short career of multitalented West Coast artist Joan Brown (1938-90). Brown's innovative and haunting symbolism is set down in her style of brilliant brushwork. Many of her paintings are autobiographical and to a degree reminiscent of Henri Rousseau and Frida Kahlo. Late in her career, Brown also created works of large-scale public sculpture, with iconography suggesting ancient Egypt, China, and India. Curators/art historians Tsujimoto and Baas lucidly demonstrate the freshness and power of Brown's vision. The volume ends with a long and detailed chronology, an exhibition history, and a bibliography. Highly recommended.AMary Hamel-Schwulst, Towson Univ., MDCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.