For five hundred years, artists have been captivated by La Florida. Named by Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon, Florida’s hidden forest glades, sandy ocean hammocks, and picturesque colonial towns have inspired artists like Winslow Homer and Thomas Moran to capture the unique light, color and atmosphere found in the state. This lavishly produced book showcases the work of 38 contemporary painters, sculptors, printers and mixed medium artists who continue this artistic tradition in Northeast and Central Florida. Noted art historian Kahren Arbitman, the book’s curator, has chosen over 160 diverse images including the masterly prints of Barry Wilson, the serene landscapes of Louise Freshman Brown and Victor Kowal, the mixed media innovations of Jason Izumi, the lush abstracts of Que Throm and Cicero Greathouse, the intimate florals of John Bunker, the satirical portraits of Gary Bolding and the pioneering work of Jean Wagner Troemel. Intriguing, contemplative or challenging, these images represent the vitality and vibrancy of the visual arts in Florida today.
Arts writer Susan Gallo uses commentary by each artist to create profiles that illuminate each artist’s individual style. Curator Kahren Arbitman presents newly discovered information to trace the history of the arts in Northeast and Central Florida to reveal today’s artistic legacy.
Susan M. Gallo is Associate Director of Education at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida where she has also served as a guest curator. A former Fellow at both the Toledo Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, Gallo has previously worked as a high school teacher of English, art history and studio art and has served as a member of the adjunct art education faculty at Jacksonville University.
Kahren Jones Arbitman, Ph.D. was director of the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida, from 1996 until her retirement in 2001. From 1990 to 1996 she was director of the Palmer Museum of Art at Pennsylvania State University. Arbitman received her Ph.D. in art history from the University of Pittsburgh. A noted scholar on seventeenth-century Dutch art, she has published and lectured extensively and taught at several other universities.
Size: 10.125 x 11.375 in.
Pages: 224
Plates: 160 color plates
Linen Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-934491-09-6
Price: $75
