Roberta J. M. Olson – författare

Material culture is not static: objects are created, used and re-used, sometimes for centuries, and their lives interact with those of the people who made and used them. The essays in this book discuss the ‘social lives’ of objects in late-medieval and renaissance Italy, ranging from maiolica, through sculpture and prostitutes’ jewellery, to miraculous painted images. Demonstrates the continued life of these objects well past the deaths of their creators and patrons. Contains a series of original contributions by young scholars, representing a broad range of approaches.

Since time immemorial, the nocturnal skies have mesmerized people, and heavenly bodies have inspired the imaginations of artists, poets, and scientists. This book showcases the superstars of the firmament and universe in sumptuous illustrations featuring paintings, sculpture, drawings, watercolours, prints, as well as plates from books, celestial diagrams, and astronomical photography.Cosmos: The Art and Science of the Universe charts the human love affair with the heavens in art and astronomy, based on sound science and insightful art and cultural history. While its illustrations are thrilling and seductive, the book also recounts the fascinating story about the quest to discover the mysteries of the universe in ten lively chapters. Embellished with new information, interpretations, and amusing anecdotes, the authors weave a rich tapestry about the interconnections in the cosmos and the efforts to understand them. A stunning book that unveils the beauty of the cosmos and its compelling story.Professors Olson and Pasachoff have been working together on the intersection of art and astronomy since the 1985-1986 passage of Halley’s Comet brought them together. They are joint authors of Fire in the Sky: Comets and Meteors, the Decisive Centuries, in British Art and Science (1998) and this book is the culmination of their decades of collaboration.

John James Audubon (1785–1851), artist, naturalist and creator of the celebrated The Birds of America, is widely regarded as America’s first exceptional watercolourist. This book offers a unique exploration of Audubon’s artistic journey, intertwined with the drama of his life, unveiling how he studied both past and contemporary artists to forge entirely innovative, outstanding works of fine art. Roberta J. M. Olson delves into the controversies surrounding this legendary figure, who, for the first time in history, accurately represented all avian species life-size. Beautifully illustrated, Audubon as Artist chronicles how Audubon infused ornithological illustration with a sense of exhilaration, breathing new life into once-conventional formulas and transforming them into awe-inspiring masterpieces.

'Making it Modern' features approximately 100 folk art objects acquired by the avant-garde sculptor Elie Nadelman and his wife, Viola, between 1919 and 1934, when the couple were forced to find a buyer for their vast collection of 70,000 pieces. Most were bought by the New-York Historical Society in 1937. This substantial volume presents all of the objects in full-colour plates, covering a huge range of geographic areas and media, including Pennsylvania German folk art, imposing large-scale wooden sculptures and oil portrait paintings, 19th-century metal and wooden toys, drawings and watercolours and household tools and small objects. Archival photographs reveal the way in which the Nadelmans exhibited their most treasured works in their own purpose-built Museum of Folk and Peasant Arts in Riverdale, NY in the 1920s and 1930s. 'Making it Modern' explores several key themes, notably the definition of folk art, both in the early 20th century and as it is generally accepted today, its influence on modernism and Nadelman's own sculpture, and the relationship between American and European folk art. This is a major contribution to the study and understanding of folk art, and to Nadelman's own appealing and engaging sculpture. AUTHOR: Margaret K. Hofer is curator of decorative arts, New-York Historical Society Roberta J.M. Olson is curator of drawings, New-York Historical Society SELLING POINTS: . A major contribution to the study and understanding of folk art, and to Nadelman's own appealing and engaging sculpture. . Explores the definition of folk art, its influence on modernism and the relationship between American and European folk art. 250 colour and 50 b/w illustrations

A major new illustrated volume on the visual diary of extraordinary artist and traveller Henriette, Baroness Hyde de Neuville, who lived and worked in America during the early nineteenth century. Artist in Exile is the first in-depth, illustrated exploration of the life and work of Anne Marguerite Josephine Henriette Rouillé de Marigny, Baroness Hyde de Neuville (1771–1849), who arrived in America in 1807 as a refugee from Napoleonic France and embarked on an extraordinary journey of discovery. Her unparalleled, beguiling, watercolours and drawings - over 200, made while travelling through seven countries and on the high seas, published here together with previously unpublished documents and letters - provide an invaluable historical visual record of the early years of the American Republic and its racially diverse population. From this exciting material Henriette emerges as a cosmopolitan artist who exerted her influence in political and social circles on both sides of the Atlantic, courageously traversing the European continent, unescorted, to beg Napoleon to spare her husband's life. Neuville's status as a woman, and an outsider, made her a particularly keen and sympathetic observer of individuals from a range of socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. She drew the earliest ethnographically correct images of indigenous Americans, together with vistas predating the works of other traveler-artists, and long-vanished buildings. Although she arrived in America as an outcast, by the end of her second residency, as the celebrated wife of the French Minister Plenipotentiary, she was interacting with political leaders and making her mark on society in Washington, DC and New York City. Artist in Exile tells her compelling story. AUTHOR: Roberta J.M. Olson, who received her Ph.D. in Art History from Princeton University, is Professor Emerita of Art History at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, and Curator of Drawings at the New-York Historical Society, where she has worked since 2000. 276 colour illustrations