Synopsis
Although it lasted only 24 years (1933-1957), was beset by financial woes, and enrolled fewer than 1,200 students, Black Mountain College provided an extraordinary legacy an abundance of creative talent that shaped a whole movement of modern art in America. Those who taught included Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Agnes de Mille, Paul Goodman, and Walter Gropius. Among the students were Robert Rauschenberg, Arthur Penn, Joel Oppenheimer, and Francine du Plessix Gray. Mary Emma Harris has written the definitive account of this tiny outpost of experimentalism, uncovering many little known facts and correcting distortions about the school.
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About the Author
Independent scholar Mary Emma Harris is Chair and Director of the Black Mountain College Project.
From Publishers Weekly
Launched in the depths of the Depression, Black Mountain College had fewer than 1300 pupils over its 24-year lifespan. Yet this haven of experimentation in the North Carolina hills counted among its students and faculty Franz Kline, Walter Gropius, Josef Albers, Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, Robert De Niro, Buckminster Fuller, Merce Cunningham and Willem de Kooning, among others. Based on some 300 interviews as well as primary sources, this revealing study by an art historian traces the school's evolution from a small, innovative liberal arts college with a general curriculum to a creative community of practicing artists. Despite bitter internal conflicts and a certain insularity, Black Mountain risked constant financial worries to maintain a democratic openness and willingness to "let things happen." This attractively illustrated chronicle documents the gamut of creativity, from painting to weaving, ceramics, dance, graphic arts and photography.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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The Arts at Black Mountain College
Published by
MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1988
ISBN 10: 0262581000
ISBN 13: 9780262581004
Used
Paperback
Signed
Seller: Bagatelle Books, Asheville, NC, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Very good. Second printing. Quarto. 9 x 12.25 in. 315 pp. Fully illustrated with black & white and color reproductions of art, photographs, etc. Very good in original pictorial wrappers with light foxing to edge of text block and faint shelfwear. Inscribed by Mary Emma Harris to Asheville based photographer Benjamin Porter. Porter took the 1995 Black Mountain College reunion panoramic photograph at the old campus on Lake Eden. Laid-in is also an informational ad for the print by Porter. Though this book predates the portrait by Porter, we've included it here for reference. Seller Inventory # 8414