American Art in the Princeton University Art Museum: Volume 1: Drawings and Watercolors

The Princeton University Art Museum’s collection of American drawings and watercolors is impressive in both scope and quality, providing a comprehensive overview of the nation’s artistic traditions. This lavishly illustrated book highlights seventy-seven master drawings and watercolors chosen from the museum’s extensive collection. The selections, which range from the eighteenth century to the present, are by such eminent American artists as Benjamin West, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, Mary Cassatt, Andrew Wyeth, Georgia O’Keeffe, Lee Bontecou, and Tom Wesselmann. A group of outstanding works by Hudson River School and Ash Can artists also distinguishes the collection.

Each of the selected drawings and watercolors is reproduced in full color and is accompanied by an in-depth catalogue entry. The book also features an introduction by John Wilmerding describing Princeton’s history of collecting American art, as well as an essay by Kathleen A. Foster on the historiography of American drawings and watercolors. A useful checklist of the Museum’s entire collection of over 1,300 American drawings and watercolors, selectively illustrated in color, concludes the book.

This beautiful and informative volume clearly demonstrates that the holdings of the Princeton University Art Museum represent an extraordinary resource for students, scholars, and those with a love of American art and art history.