Tom B.
Yelp
This is to review "Roger Brown," which was written by personnel at Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. This is one of my ten most favorite art books. "Roger Brown" is a 95-page book (8 1/2 inches x 10 inches) with 32 pages of text, and small reproductions of 17 paintings (in black and white) in the margins. Most of these small reproductions are of Roger Brown's paintings, but there are also reproductions of art by Joseph Yoakum (Imagist), Giovanni di Paolo, Pablo Picasso, Grant Wood, and Art Green (Imagist). Larger reproductions, as well as color reproductions, occur on pages 40-81. Pages 82-93 include Roger Brown's Chronology as well as a list of his exhibitions (years 1967 to 1980).
Mitchell Kahan, Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, is the author of "Roger Brown." Philip Klopfenstein is the director of Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, and he wrote the Introduction for the book, "Roger Brown." I lived in Madison, WI from 1980-1984 and, during that time, visited Chicago on a few occasions. While in Chicago, I saw paintings by Chicago Imagist Ed Paschke, and then began to collect books about the Chicago Imagists. Off all of these books, "Roger Brown" by Mitchell Kahan has the best selection of colored reproductions of Roger Brown's paintings. The reproductions of paintings in this book, in terms of having details that are crisp and precise, and in terms of accuracy of color reproduction, is absolutely first rate. I bought "Roger Brown" the year it was published (1980) and, in the past 40 years, the book became a little bit worn. And so, I was delighted to discover that Montgomery Museum continues to sell new copies of this book, and so I bought another copy. On two occasions, I spent a week touring Louisiana, and so I have a strong affinity for Roger Brown's painting, BAYOU LE BATRE (page 67). I lived in Wisconsin in 1980-1984, and so I am also highly attracted to Roger Brown's paintings showing lightning, tornados, thunderclouds, trucks motoring at night along remote country highways, and other scenes from the countryside - - - and as a consequence, I especially love these paintings from this book: TWISTER (p. 46), OKLAHOMA IS O.K. (p. 52), AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN THE SHAPE OF ALABAMA (p. 54), JACKNIFE (p. 57), MISTY MORNING (p. 59), INTERMITTENT SHOWERS (p. 63), THUNDERHEAD (p. 66). Page 80 provides photos of four of Roger Brown's painted irons. About 15 years ago, I went to a second hand store and bought two chrome-plated irons, and then using enamel paints I created my own Roger Brown-style painted irons.
To date, my library of books by the Chicago Imagists consists of:
(1) Roger Brown (1980) by Mitchell Kahan.
(2) Human Concern/Personal Torment by Robert Doty (I saw this exhibition on the U.C. Berkeley campus in the year 1970, when I was an undergrad).
(3) Jim Nutt: Coming into Character by Lynne Warren.
(4) The Chicago Imagists by Lynne Warren, Rosie Cooper, and Sarah McCrory
(5) Roger Brown (1987) by Sidney Lawrence.
(6) Roger Brown Southern Exposure (2007) by Sidney Lawrence.
(7) Roger Brown A Different Dimension (2004) by Pascucci and Adrian.
(8) Sources of Light Contemporary American Luminism (1985) by Harvey West.
(9) Who Chicago? An Exhibition of Contemporary Imagists by Dennis Adrian, Russell Bowman, Roger Brown, James Falconer, Art Green.
(10) Ed Paschke: Selected Works 1967 - 1981.
(11) Robert Lostutter Show (2006) Indiana University.
(12) Uncommon Accumulation (2020) by Mel Solomon.
(13) Hairy Who & The Chicago Imagists (DVD) directed by Leslie Buchbinder (I recommend this DVD. You need to buy it. Has interviews with artists belonging to the Chicago Imagists, and interviews with art collectors and gallery curators.)
