The Art Of Frank C. McCarthy
(1992 - William Morrow)

This volume scores as the better of the two collecting McCarthy's western art, but I admit to having mixed feelings about it. Being produced almost 20 years after the other, this book and its reproductions seem to 'pop' just that much more and most of the images are larger, not to mention nine additional large extracts, all of which put McCarthy's incredible attention to detail on display. Let me ramble here why so many of these larger exhibits are irksome for me - *52* of these paintings are laid across the book's central gutter to some extent. Now, amazingly, all but one are o.k., I guess, in handling the resulting slightly distorted split - some are laid on portfolio centers and/or the fact that so many of the McCarthy's compositions include sprawling landscapes or large companies of individuals, both of which lend themselves better to finding a place to split them. All the same, this part of the enterprise creates a chaotic-ness for me - "Here's a whole bunch of long displays that, damn-it, we made fit somehow!". Also objectionable is the inclusion of 39 large sepia-toned 'silhouettes' (some of them spread across the gutter too!) created from McCarthy paintings (including some found elsewhere in this same book). On top of that, there are fold-outs that display two long triptychs, everything just adding to the busy-ness of the proceedings here. So, you've got here an ideal-sized book for 160 pages, with 98 of them participating in large featured reproductions and another 23 of competing images (or parts of them). The 69 paintings (which are listed on the last page) are all captioned with their titles and some explanation of the activities depicted there-in. There's no shortage of text outlining the western themes canvased in the chapters that are entitled, The Plains Indian (mystic voices), Mountain Men (a kingdom of beaver), The Hunter Warriors (swift riders of the plain), The Cavalry (on beans and hay), Storm Over The Plains (fighting for the old ways), Traveling West (boats, hoofs, wheels, and rails), and Frank C. McCarthy (master of western action).

other William Morrow releases

The Art Of Tom Lovell - An Invitation To History

Bradbury - An Illustrated Life

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