From 1802; when the young artist William Edward West began painting portraits on a downriver trip to New Orleans; to 1918; when John Alberts; the last of Frank Duvenecks students; worked in Louisville; a wide variety of portrait artists were active in Kentucky and the Ohio River Valley. Lessons in Likeness: Portrait Painters in Kentucky and the Ohio River Valley; 1802ndash;1920 charts the course of those artists as they painted the mighty and the lowly; statesmen and business magnates as well as country folk living far from urban centers. Paintings by each artist are illustrated; when possible; from The Filson Historical Society collection of some 400 portraits representing one of the most extensive holdings available for study in the region.This volume begins with a cultural chronology―a backdrop of critical events that shaped the taste and times of both artist and sitter. The chronology is followed by brief biographies of the artists; both legends and recent discoveries; illustrated by their work. Matthew Harris Jouett; who studied with Gilbert Stuart; William Edward West; who painted Lord Byron; and Frank Duveneck are well-known; far less so are James T. Poindexter; who painted charming childrens portraits in western Kentucky; Reason Croft; a recently discovered itinerant in the Louisville area; and Oliver Frazer; the last resident portrait artist in Lexington during the romantic era. Penningtons study offers a captivating history of portraiture not only as a cherished possession but also representing a period of cultural and artistic transitions in the history of the Ohio River Valley region.
#1380880 in eBooks 2010-10-15 2010-10-15File Name: B004LRO9D2
Review
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful. Purchase with reservations: VERY difficult/Not all info is correctBy Paul VintnerI am a huge musical theatre fan who collects cast albums. reads books on the subject. watches the Tonys every year. and tries to catch every Broadway tour that comes my way. Ive seen shows in NY. London. and even seen shows in foreign languages in other countries. (The German production of Wicked was truly spectacular.) I merely state this to establish some credibility before I give my reasons for disliking this book:The questions are too difficult to make these quizzes fun. The author writes in the beginning that she tried to make it interesting for hardcore fans like myself as well as casual fans. If this is true. Im surprised she didnt categorize the quizzes by difficulty level and gives us quizzes ranging from very easy to very hard rather than a whole book of quizzes that only fit in the latter category. As it stands. I could only answer about one in every seven questions. Thus. I cant imagine a casual musical theatre fan getting much enjoyment from this book. Of course. not knowing a question prompts you to look up the answer and learn something new. which is exciting. but not all the information is correct. I reached the "Typically English" quiz covering British shows. only the fourth quiz in the book. and I already ran across a mistake* and a pretty obvious one at that. This leads me to question the validity of other information contained in this book.Overall. I love the idea of this book. I just think it could have been a touch easier and researched better while still being fun and interesting to ALL those who appreciate musical theatre.*In the answers section for the "Typically English" quiz (under #10. pg. 199). the author states that Lauri Peters (and the children) from The Sound of Music lost the Best Featured Actress Tony to Sandra Church from Gypsy. She/they actually lost to their costar in The Sound of Music. Patricia Neway.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. More than a Trivia- you better have been thereBy David Seaman"The Broaedway Musical Quiz Book" is by no means for the layman. Ive worked in musical theatre for thirty years and huge chunks of this book left my forehead crinkled and my mind saying. "What the-" The only sequence in which I got them all correct was on Stephen Sondheim. but then there is no one alive other than Sondheim himself who could tell you more.(Maybe not even him; we rarely follow our own lives with the same scruntiny as others do.)However this book is a lot of fun. I picture a dorm room full of theatre majors playing with the book; I picture teachers looking for extra credit questions. I also can see how this book is useful in looking at the history of Aerican Musical Theatre. I can see the book spending a summer on the porch or a winter in the bathroom.If youre a fan who lovedf "Cats" and "Phantom" but cant say who wrote the lyrics and book for those two shows. save your money and buy a Sarah Brightman DVD. If youre smarter than that and have a sincere interest in American Musical Theatre. you could do a lot worse.I do wonder. however. how the author would have done on this before her hunt for information.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Fun but VERY difficult.By John M. HardawayThis is an excellent book of trivia. But. you better really know musicals if you hope to answer these quizzes. These are very difficult. Many of the shows are old. seldom seen. and obscure. Plus the questions ask for minute details that many of you probably missed when seeing the show. Luckily. the answers along with more detailed information can be found in the back of the book.
