Video and Books Sculpture, Glass, and American Museums Australian Glass Today Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages Puppetry: A World History Walter Keeler Yakimono: 4000 Years of Japanese Ceramics Five Thousand Years of Chinese Ceramics from the Robin and R. Randolph Richmond, Jr. Collection More than Words: Illustrated Letters from the Smithsonianís Archives of American Art Cape Dorset Sculpture Contemporary Coast Salish Art Pacific Voices: Keeping Our Cultures Alive The Penland Book of Jewelry: Master Classes in Jewelry Techniques Archive
	Sculpture, Glass, and American Museums by Martha Drexler Lynn, 2005, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 800-537-5487. 223 pages, foreword by Doug Anderson, illustrated. $49.95. In the past 20 years glass sculpture has entered museum collections in increasing numbers. Martha Drexler Lynn, a former associate curator of decorative arts at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, documents this development in profiles of 26 leading institutions in this book commissioned by the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass. The growing acceptance, Lynn writes, “signals the confluence of focused collecting and promotion by donors, the increased artistic sophistication of the artists working in glass, and the active encouragement of curators and directors.” After first delineating the barriers to the glass medium, Lynn traces the changing attitudes toward art world hierarchies that have led to its acceptance, touching on such points as the yielding of modernist strictures to a postmodern sensibility, the broadening of art media categories, a new appreciation of beauty as a worthy component of artistic expression, and an increased interest in glass by artists in other media. Her account of each museum includes a photograph of the institution and a few works from its collection. TOP
	Australian Glass Today by Margot Osborne, 2005, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, South Australia, 61-8-8362-8800. 154 pages, essays by Richard Whiteley, Geoffrey Edwards, Grace Cochrane and Susanne K. Frantz, illustrated. $75. The evolution of Australian studio glass over the last decade and its emergence on the world stage is the subject of this survey featuring 45 artists. Margot Osborne considers the factors affecting the development of an Australian “accent”: “The triumph of Australian glass is a testament to the success of craft or skills-based training, to the importance of material knowledge underwriting creative endeavour, and to value of the craft ethic.” Credit is given to the influence of German-born Klaus Moje, who founded the glass program at the Canberra School of Art in 1982—more than half the artists in the book passed through it. Another active area discussed is Adelaide, home to the Jam Factory and the glass program at the University of South Australia. In a somewhat contrarian essay, Susanne K. Frantz declares, “It is no longer necessary to promote ‘Australian Glass’ by lumping it together as the flower of an unparalleled wellspring. Thanks to the vision of such teachers as Klaus Moje, Stephen Procter, Jane Bruce, and their Australian colleagues, there now exists a generation of artists whose work demands (and can survive) consideration within a broader context.” TOP
	Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages by Marilynn A. Johnson, 2005, Scala Publishers, London, England. Antique Collectors’ Club, Easthampton, MA, 800-252-5231. 240 pages, essays by Michael John Burlingham, Martin Filler, Nina Gray and Rüdiger Joppien, illustrated. $49.95. The protean achievements of Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) are on display in this splendid companion book to a touring exhibition organized by Exhibitions International, now at the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio (February 4-April 30). Tiffany brought his aesthetic, technical and entrepreneurial talents to a variety of media—jewelry, metalwork, textiles, furniture, pottery and, above all, glass, for which he had won world renown by 1900. His quest for beauty and love of nature are evident in the more than 130 works depicted, from the collections of 40 museums and private collectors, as well as the Tiffany & Co. Archives. Curator Marilynn A. Johnson covers Tiffany’s life and career, and argues persuasively that his oeuvre—measured against the best glass works of the past—has stood the test of time. Nina Gray discusses his contemporaries, Rüdiger Joppien offers the view of the artist from abroad and Martin Filler traces the fluctuations in Tiffany’s reputation, from the low point after his death through the revival of interest in the 1950s. TOP
	Puppetry: A World History by Eileen Blumenthal, 2005, Harry N. Abrams, New York, NY, 800-345-1359. 272 pages, illustrated. $65. Puppets have existed throughout human history and in diverse forms, from ancient terra-cotta dolls with movable limbs, to marionettes, to shadow puppets and masks, to Jim Henson’s Muppets and on and on. Erudite and entertaining, this richly illustrated international survey by a professor of theater arts takes a thematic approach to the subject after a brief overview of history and technique. Mingling material from different continents and periods, she examines the “distinctive nature and abilities of constructed performers and surveys the kinds of roles they have played in human societies,” from slapstick to serious political statement, with more than a few forays into sex and violence. An extensive bibliography is included. TOP
	Walter Keeler by Emmanuel Cooper and Amanda Fielding, 2004, The Gallery Ruthin Craft Centre, Denbighshire, North Wales, UK, thegallery@rccentre.org.uk. 108 pages, illustrated. £25 hardcover, £19 paperback (£8 shipping). Walter Keeler established his ceramics studio in 1965 and by 1980 had developed his signature work—“sharply designed, meticulously constructed teapots and jugs with their often jaunty postures and close-fitting skin of salt-glaze”—as described by Amanda Fielding, curator of the Crafts Council collection, in this monograph on the eminent British potter. The editor Emmanuel Cooper’s chapter on Keeler’s life and work addresses the balance he achieves between improvisation and order in his distinctive vessels. Both writers note Keeler’s interest in historical work and his tremendous skill. TOP
	Yakimono: 4000 Years of Japanese Ceramics 2005, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Hawaii. University of Washington Press, Seattle, 800-441-4115. 80 pages, text by Saito Takamasa, Ohashi Koji and Nakano Yasuhiro in English and Japanese, illustrated. $23.95 paperback. Fifty masterworks of Japanese ceramics from the Middle Jomon period (2500-1500 B.C.) to 1988, drawn from Japanese museum collections are illustrated in this catalog of an exhibition at the Honolulu Academy of Arts celebrating the 120th anniversary of Japanese immigration to Hawaii. The catalog entries describe and place each piece in historical context, while the text by three specialists provides a succinct survey of Japanese ceramics. TOP
	Five Thousand Years of Chinese Ceramics from the Robin and R. Randolph Richmond, Jr. Collection by Lisa Rotondo-McCord, 2005, New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana. University of Washington Press, Seattle, 800-441-4115. 144 pages, illustrated. $29.95 paperback. In 2000, the collectors Robin and R. Randolph Richmond, Jr. donated more than 200 works, primarily Chinese ceramics from the Neolithic period (ca. 3000 B.C.) to the Yuan dynasty (13th to 14th century), to the New Orleans Museum of Art. An exhibition last year and its companion catalog celebrate this donation. The 100 works presented include richly glazed earthenware tomb figures of the Han and Tang dynasties and the subtle, refined porcelain and stoneware of the Song dynasty. The scholarly essay and catalog entries offer a valuable overview of the long period during which one of the world’s great ceramic traditions developed. TOP
	More than Words: Illustrated Letters from the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art by Liza Kirwin, 2005, Smithsonian Archives of American Art. Princeton Architectural Press, New York, NY, 212-995-9620. 243 pages, foreword by Richard J. Wattenmaker, illustrated. $24.95. A 1979 handwritten letter from the ceramic sculptor Michael Lucero to his former teacher Patti Warashina fills her in on the New York downtown art scene and is embellished with a drawing of himself in “chic-punk” attire next to one of his works; a 1947 letter from Alexander Calder to a collector contains his sketches for a bracelet of gold wire for the recipient’s wife. These are among the 96 letters by more than 75 painters and sculptors reproduced in this selection culled from the collections of the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art and published to celebrate the archives’ 50th anniversary. The correspondence provides an intimate view of the artists’ social world. Among other figures included are Winslow Homer, Marcel Duchamp, Red Grooms, Andy Warhol and Dale Chihuly. TOP
	Cape Dorset Sculpture by Derek Norton and Nigel Reading, 2005, Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver, B.C., Canada. University of Washington Press, Seattle, 800-441-4115. 136 pages, introduction by Terry Ryan, photography by Kenji Nagai. $27.95 paperback. Most of the 71 carved works in stone featured were made in the last five years by 44 artists living in the remote hamlet of Cape Dorset, on the southwest tip of Baffin Island in the Canadian far north, the community that has had the single greatest impact on the worldwide recognition of Inuit art. Mostly of a smooth greenish-black serpentine stone, the sculptures depict in a stylized, sometimes humorous vein Arctic themes: animals, life in the home and community, transformations and fantastic beings. Selected by Derek Norton and Nigel Reading, founders of the Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, in collaboration with the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative, they represent an art form that has been constantly renewed over the past 50 years. In his introduction Terry Ryan, director emeritus of the co-operative, offers the history of art making in Cape Dorset, emphasizing the role of the late James Houston in encouraging and developing the Inuit arts. TOP
	Contemporary Coast Salish Art edited by Rebecca Blanchard and Nancy Davenport, 2005, Stonington Gallery, Seattle. University of Washington Press, Seattle, 800-441-4115. 112 pages, contributions by Steven C. Brown, photography by Mike Zens. $27.50 paperback. Among the Pacific Northwest Coast’s rich tribal cultures, the Coast Salish Nation, referring to the ethnic groups of the southern region of the Northwest Coast (southern British Columbia and western Washington State), has developed distinct design traditions inspired by ritual, storytelling and mythology. Twenty artists in basketry, weaving, wood and glass are presented in this companion book to a 2005 exhibition at the Stonington Gallery. The works—in some cases public commissions—are accompanied by biographies and retellings of Native legends.
	Pacific Voices: Keeping Our Cultures Alive by Miriam Kahn and Erin Younger, 2005, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle. University of Washington Press, Seattle, 800-441-4115. 200 pages, illustrated. $30 paperback. The objects shown in this book were collected in tandem with “Pacific Voices,” a permanent exhibit at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture that opened in 1997 with the intent of exploring the sources of cultural identity for peoples of the Pacific Rim now in the Seattle area. Members of the Pacific Islander, Southeast Asian, East Asian and Northwest Native American communities were asked to select an object that both embodied the richness of their culture and offered a sense of identity. The objects—for example, Japanese taiko drums, a Coast Salish fish hook, a Vietnamese incense burner—are presented with photographs of the community representatives and their stories. More context is provided by curator Miriam Kahn, an anthropologist, and Erin Younger, director of public programs at the Burke Museum.
	The Penland Book of Jewelry: Master Classes in Jewelry Techniques edited by Marthe Le Van, 2005, Lark Books, Asheville, NC. Sterling Publishing Co., New York, NY, 212-532-7160. 232 pages, artists’ texts, introduction by Jean W. McLaughlin, illustrated. $34.95. In this third volume in a series—the others are on ceramics and handmade books—10 jewelry artists who have taught at the Penland School of Crafts, North Carolina—Marilyn da Silva, John Cogswell, Jaime Pelissier, Rob Jackson, Heather White van Stolk, Jan Baum, Tom McCarthy, Maria Phillips, Mary Ann Scherr and Douglas Harling—instruct in their area of expertise and give insight into the creative process. Each artist’s chapter contains an illustrated hands-on section, an essay describing the person’s history, inspirations and working method, and a “gallery” of other artists’ work. Overall, more than 75 artists’ works are pictured. TOP
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