This is volume 4: S-Z, of a four-volume set. The complete four-volume set presents the careers of 320 women artists working in California, with more than 2,000 images, over the course of a century. Their work encompasses a broad range of styles—from the realism of the nineteenth century to the modernism of the twentieth—and of media, including painting, sculpture, drawing, illustration and print-making. While some of the profiled artists are already well known, others have been previously ignored or largely forgotten. Yet all had serious careers as artists: they studied, exhibited, and won awards. These women were trailblazers, each one essential to the momentum of a movement that opened the door for heartfelt expression and equality. Much of the information and many of the images in the book have never before been published. Artists are presented alphabetically; also included are additional primary sources that put the artists’ work in context.
Maurine St. Gaudens, a historian, scholar, and proponent of the arts, has dedicated herself to the pursuit and recognition of artists. She is a fine arts conservator and has curated numerous exhibitions.
The set is exquisitely illustrated and printed in a well-designed four volume format that will hold up to heavy use in a reference or personal collection. Very well priced for the quality of the intellectual content and presentation of visual information. This title is essential for all academic libraries and public libraries with strong collections in art, women's history, and history of the western United States. -- ARLISNA.org, Rebecca Kohn, Associate Librarian, San Jose State University Library
It's not often that you get a publication so broad in reach, so inclusive and so immaculately researched that it can change an art market for good. -- American Fine Art Magazine
...the lack of female art at modern-day exhibits on the West Coast, inspired [Maurine St. Gauden's] encyclopedias. She wanted to show the long history of excellence in female-made art, and prove that women could paint more than just 'still lifes, children, puppies, kittens, and ducklings, and a random landscape.' -- Alexandra Villarreal, Staff Writer, The Philadelphia Inquirer
This publication is to be celebrated, as it celebrates women artists who worked in California and brings them out of the shadows and puts them together in one place for easy discovery and research. -- Maine Antique Digest
