Imprinting the South
Imprinting the South
Southern Printmakers and their Images of the Region, 1920s-1940s
In this book, Lynn Barstis Williams outlines the history of printmaking in the South, its rise in popularity, its variations from region to region, the different methods embraced by printmakers, the growth of the print society movement, and the influence of social realism, New Deal art programs, and the Arts and Crafts movement on the aesthetics of southern printmakers. She also reviews the motifs, imagery, and subject matter that predominated in the work of many southern printmakers—the natural world, farms and farmers at work, rural architecture and townscapes, African-American life, religious gatherings, and scenes of leisure and play (hunting, dancing, music-playing).
This book by Williams (formerly, Auburn Univ.) is difficult to evaluate. A valuable introduction to many artists who are little known outside the southern US, it includes extensive endnotes, a substantial bibliography, a list of printmaking terms, and an index to printmakers, with short citations for each. More than 50 percent of the images are from the personal collection of the author plus one additional private collection. Conceivably Williams does own the definitive collection of prints by southern artists; major southern and eastern museums are each represented by only one image. It is very difficult to know whether the works reproduced represent the full spectrum of printmaking in the South between 1920 and 1940. Given the similarity in the works' iconography and form, perhaps the works represent the author's collecting interests. A number of artists are included whose careers involved the South only tangentially; others were born in the South and developed careers elsewhere. The discussion of iconography throughout revolves around the southern themes one might expect, with very little new information included. While there are questions about what and who is included in the book, the research materials are useful and add to the available literature on regional printmaking in the US. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above.'
—CHOICE
‘An attractive and informative study [with] a wealth of information and good illustrations. . . . This volume focuses sharply on the South. It tells the story of how printmaking evolved in the region and provides a rich body of imagery as well as reference data about individual artists.’—Martha R. Severens, author of The Charleston Renaissance
Lynn Barstis Williams is an art and special collections librarian at Auburn University libraries. She is the compiler of American Printmakers 1880–1945: An Index to Reproductions and Biocritical Information and the author of articles on a variety of southern printmakers and movements.
