In-depth essays by Reaves (curator of prints and drawings, National Portrait Gallery) and by Bernard F. Reilly Jr., respectively, analyze the history of 20th-century portraiture in America, and
discuss intellectual developments that influenced artists' conceptualization of the figure. They are joined by 12 other art historians to provide rich insight and background for each of the 50
selected works of art discussing the artists, the works themselves and the circumstances of their creation, and the personalities of the people being portrayed. The selections represent the
American artistic tradition from the 1880s to the 1980s, and feature work by Cassatt, Hopper, Lawrence, Warhol, and Lichtenstein, among others, and subjects such as Theodore Roosevelt, W.C.
Fields, Alice B. Toklas, Stokely Carmichael, and Mark Strand. The book is oversize: 9.5x12 Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
