Thornton Dial

June 1, 2012

This book, edited by Herman (George B. Tindall Professor, American studies, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Town House: Architecture and Material Life in the Early American City, 1780-1830), accompanies an exhibition of self-taught Alabama artist Thornton Dial's (b. 1928) works on paper at the Ackland Museum of Art, Chapel Hill, NC. Together, the catalog and exhibition present a sustained examination of Dial's drawings. Essays by art historians, anthropologists, and artists tell the story of Dial's development as an artist, with close attention paid to his use of paper, pencil, charcoal, and watercolor. The artist's critically acclaimed multimedia sculptural work, such as his piece Trophies (2000), looks a bit as if Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Robert Rauschenberg got together and made (great) art. However, the works on paper are more delicate. The style is still expressionistic, but less de Kooning, Pollock, and Rauschenberg, and more Klimt, Chagall, and Picasso. VERDICT Perfect for those interested in American history, culture, art, and, of course, Thornton Dial.--Jennifer H. Krivickas, Univ. of Cincinnati Lib.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.