Reviews for The Environment of man

The average rating for The Environment of man based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-08-06 00:00:00 Martha Taylor Wow! What a book! This is an amazing catalogue from an exhibition which took place in America in 2006 that travelled from the Addison Gallery of American Art in Massachusetts to Delaware, then California. Whether interested art, portraits in general, or Black American history this is wonderful. The exhibition looks at Black Americans in portraiture and how they were depicted. The history of those fighting for emancipation and rights unfolds, with the struggles that came with surviving as artist or black person. What is particularly interesting about the exhibition is that many of the people featured where professionals worked in business, photography, sculpting, painting and writing. Also some of the portraits were made by black and mixed-race people too, including Henry Ossawa Tanner (Painter) and Augustus Washington (Photographer). A history often hidden. The book features well known individuals such as Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth, Joseph Cinque (Freedom Fighter aboard the slave ship Armistad), besides the lesser well known Moses Williams (Cutter of Profiles), Edmonia Lewis (Sculptor), and Benjamin Banneker (Surveyor and Mathematician) among others. The catalogue charts how black people were depicted in art, the origins of various portraits, such as that of Phillis Wheatley (Writer), identity in the Early Republic and makes interesting observations around identity, depiction and how artists presented themselves. The exhibition has pictures of soldiers and mixed-race slave children. The author does put forward some interesting and challenging thoughts on some of the depictions. True intentions can only be fully known if mentioned or described by an artist or sitter, through diaries, memoirs etc, so such assumptions are sadly guesses. However, elucidation on how some of the portraits came about and the genesis of such works are unfolded here. The book is fully referenced with notes and image credits. For the pictures depicted in the exhibition, information is given about the subject as well as the creator, featuring fascinating lives, fascinating characters.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-01-19 00:00:00 Rogier Thierry So often when I read historical novels, I wonder wat the characters looked like...how their hair was styled and their manner of dress. Even with the author's description of the character, there is always someting to be gained by a visual to enhance one's imagination. This is a wonderfully informative book. I would imagine that for someone who is writing an historial novel and wants a feel for the era, this book would be invaluable. A number of beautiful portraits are featured and the accompanying text is nicely written. Images of a number of famous African Americans are included: -- Joseph Cinque, leader of the Amistad rebellion -- Frederick Douglas -- Benjamin Banneker -- Sojourner Truth -- Absalom Jones, a former slave who became a prominent religious leader Additionally, there are interesting subjects such as a white man and his mulatto son, a self-portrait of a mulatto artists whose rendering of his features clerly shows his is confilicted about his racial origins and one of George Washington's cook garbed in traditional chef's hat and white linents. The portraits revealed to me some very talented artists and I am going to do a bit more research on 19th Century American painters and photographers. Some of the portraits truly magnificent. The author has gathered an intriguing collection of artwork to illustrate 19th African Americans. This book is a keeper; a volumn that I'll enjoy referring to often as i read historical pieces.