Love and Loss: American Portrait and Mourning Miniatures (Yale University Art Gallery)
This thick book's other dimensions are approximately those of a next-larger-than-regular-size postcard. Yet most of its colorplates are full-scale reproductions, for the brilliantly lifelike paintings in them are tiny portraits painted in watercolor on thin ivory disks. During the hundred years before photography, they were all the rage among Americans who could afford their highly skilled creators' fees. Before that, they had evolved from medieval manuscript illuminations and enjoyed 400 years' popularity in Britain. Such famous American artists as Benjamin West, John Singleton Copley, and the three generations of Peales produced them regularly. Frank reviews some 100 outstanding examples, reporting their genesis, generally as intimate mementos of loved ones who were frequently absent or who had died, and examining their technical qualities. Fascinating art history that makes for a near-perfect book to while away the hours with.Ray OlsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved