Trevor J. Fairbrother Books

With its stunning coastlines, mountains, lakes, forests, and scenic villages, New England has been an inspiration for American artists since the 19th century. This lively book considers the ways in which painters have responded to the region’s summer beauty as well as to its social and cultural preoccupations and characteristics. Works by such artists as Fitz Henry Lane, John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, Maurice Prendergast, Marsden Hartley, Edward Hopper, Hans Hofmann, Andrew Wyeth, Alex Katz, and Yvonne Jacquette depict subjects as wide ranging as the bucolic delights of farms and fields to the atmospheric light of New England’s rugged coasts to the ethnic and social diversity of urban street life.  Painting Summer in New England highlights the various styles and influences revealed in these works, including photographic realism, Impressionism, Expressionism, and abstraction.  In addition, Trevor Fairbrother discusses the tremendous array of works covered by the concept of “painting” and the remarkable richness of thematic imagery that can be seen and understood as “New England.” This engaging book is a delightful and invaluable resource for those who live in or are admirers of New England and American art.

This richly produced volume celebrates the distinctive works created by Boston artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first major reexamination of Boston art during its richest and most complex period, The Bostonians presents noted paintings by Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Childe Hassam, Edmund Tarbell, William Morris Hunt, Joseph DeCamp, Lilian Hale, Charles Hopkinson, Frank W. Benson, Maurice Prendergast, William Paxton, and many others whose contributions were vital to the cultural climate of the city in the dawn of the last century. Featuring 100 illustrations by 40 artists, The Bostonians is a crucial document for understanding Boston's astounding cultural heritage, and the remarkable legacy it has left behind.