American landscapes: meditations on art and literature in a changing world

Uittreksel

"American Landscapes: Meditations on Art and Literature in a Changing World is a major contemporary survey of landscapes in art and literature of the United States, especially the American South. Inspired by William Dunlap's extraordinary landscape Meditations on the Origins of Agriculture in America and a collection of forty paintings and photographs by southern artists, this volume brings together artists, authors, and scholars to present new perspectives on art and literature both past and present. The volume includes art and text from artists John Alexander, Jason Bouldin, William Dunlap, Carlyle Wolfe Lee, Ke Francis, Linda Burgess, Randy Hayes; photographers Sally Mann, Ed Croom, and Huger Foote; museum directors Betsy Bradley, Jane Livingston, and Julian Rankin; and authors W. Ralph Eubanks, John Grisham, J. Richard Gruber, Jessica B. Harris, Lisa Howorth, Julia Reed, Natasha Trethewey, Curtis Wilkie, Joseph M. Pierce, and Drew Gilpin Faust. This diverse group explores major eras of American history portrayed in Dunlap's painting, a landscape that evokes the displacement and genocide of Native Americans, the enslavement of Africans, the Civil War, and William Faulkner's fiction. They examine the history of landscape art in America, connecting art with the works of major writers like William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Natasha Trethewey, and Jesmyn Ward. In eighteen new essays written during the pandemic and since the events of January 6, 2021, the essayists emphasize how the key issues Dunlap addressed in his 1987 artwork have become part of the national discourse and make his work even more vital today"-- Provided by publisher.

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In memoriam -- Julia Evans Reed -- Dunlap on Dunlap / William Dunlap -- Prelude: Friends of the University of Mississippi Museum's Acquisition of "Meditations on the Origins of Agriculture in America" / Dorothy Molpus Howorth -- Introduction: Looking backward, looking forward / J. Richard Gruber -- The power of place in art and literature / William Dunlap -- The lyrical landscape / W. Ralph Eubanks, Natasha Trethewey -- Symposium keynote address opening remarks / Diane Scruggs, Noel E. Wilkin, Robert Saarnio -- Keynote address: The American landscape painting tradition: History, place, charged objects, and Southern road trips / J. Richard Gruber -- Southern road trip / Betsy Bradley, John Alexander, William Dunlap, Jane Livingston, Julia Reed -- The power of place in art / Lisa Howorth, Jane Livingston, Sally Mann -- The written word and sense of place in landscape / W. Ralph Eubanks, John Grisham, Jessica B. Harris, Curtis Wilkie -- Ways of seeing the landscape / Julian Rankin, John Alexander, Jason Bouldin, William Dunlap, Carlyle Wolfe -- Landscape paintings and photographs / William Dunlap, Melanie Munns Antonelli -- Event photographs / Linda Burgess, Danny Dickey, and Thad Lee -- Look at it, think about it / J. Richard Gruber -- COVID-19 pandemic and the making of art / William Dunlap -- My landscape's not your landscape: Some musings on the multiplicity of landscapes of and in the mind / Jessica B. Harris -- Landscape in the time of COVID: A funky valentine / Lisa Howorth -- Sense of place / Curtis Wilkie -- Four meditations from the land of Rowan Oak / Ed Croom -- Transitions / Randy Hayes -- Epiphanies and meditations / Linda Burgess -- Source of inspiration / John Grisham -- Oxford odyssey / Huger Foote -- Meditations on the sublime in Mississippi landscapes / Betsy Bradley -- Meditations on landscape / Ke Francis -- Southern light, southern landscape / W. Ralph Eubanks -- Stars and snakes forever: An interview with John Alexander / J. Richard Gruber -- Bearing witness: Visual aesthetics and meaning / Jason Bouldin -- Landscape as subject / Carlyle Wolfe Lee -- Returning / Julian Rankin -- Playing Indian: The Capitol rioter dressed up as a Native American is part of a long cultural history. We ignore it at our peril / Joseph M. Pierce -- What to do about William Faulkner: Review of the saddest words: William Faulkner's Civil War by Michael Gorra / Drew Gilpin Faust -- Afterword: Meditations / J. Richard Gruber -- About the Contributors -- Index.