Wild Exuberance: Harold Weston's Adirondack Art

by Rebecca Foster, Caroline M. Welsh

Early in his career, critics and collectors widely recognized that Harold Weston (1894-1972), was capturing and saying something unusual in his paintings. "There is a young American painter," wrote Duncan Phillips, "who stirs in me the hope for a re-birth on this new soil of something that was not lost to the art of painting with the passing of Vincent van Gogh." Along with 104 color and ten black-and-white plates of Weston's works, the catalog includes essays that cover myriad aspects of Weston's life and art. The Adirondack Museum's chief curator Caroline M. Welsh explores nature and wilderness preservation as themes in twentieth-century art and places Weston in the context of his contemporaries who painted the Adirondacks. The biographical essay by the exhibition's guest curator Rebecca Foster follows the unfolding of a career in parallel to the unfolding of a life. Weston's rich technique is explored by Stephen Bennett-Phillips, curator at the Phillips Collection, in an analysis of the painting. Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., curator of American art at the Fogg Art Museum, provides an introduction to the catalogue.

136 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book. Unlike many art books, this was well written and clear. I love the Adirondacks and have known of Harold Weston for many years. I know many of the scenes he painted and I found the discussions of Weston's development as a painter, his importance to the region, and the comparisons with other painters of the time very informative. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves American painting and anyone who loves the Adirondacks.