| A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster Jr. Contributor(s): Lane, Harlan (Author) |
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ISBN: 0807066168 ISBN-13: 9780807066164 Publisher: Beacon Press OUR PRICE: $31.50 Product Type: Hardcover Published: September 2004 Annotation: The extraordinary and untold story of John Brewster Jr., a preeminent Deaf American artist Until his death 150 years ago, John Brewster Jr. was one of the most prominent portrait painters in America. Born deaf in 1766, his hauntingly beautiful portraits have a directness and intensity of vision that were rarely equaled. Harlan Lane's groundbreaking biography includes little-known and invaluable information on the early French roots of the American Deaf-World, the first school for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut, the integrated Deaf community of Martha's Vineyard, and Contemporary Deaf art. Superbly illustrated with twenty-four pages of color images, A Deaf Artist in Early America provides a rare glimpse of Brewster and his art; it also contextualizes the distinctive culture, language, social institutions, and legacy of the Deaf in America. "This riveting account of John Brewster Jr. will be invaluable not only in Deaf studies and art history, but also in early American history and the social history of American institutions." --Carol Padden, coauthor of Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Artists, Architects, Photographers - Social Science | People With Disabilities - Art | American - General |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 2004004640 |
| Physical Information: 0.88" H x 6.26" W x 9.2" (1.09 lbs) 208 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1800-1850 - Chronological Period - 18th Century - Topical - Physically Challenged |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: John Brewster Jr. (1766-1854) was one of the most prominent early American portrait painters. His hauntingly beautiful portraits have a directness and intensity of vision that were rarely equaled, as the images in this book attest. Brewster's portraits have sold astonishingly well at auction, and his work is featured in the collections of prestigious museums, yet curiously little has been written about the life of this deaf artist. Traveling the New England coast to paint the portraits of the merchant class that arose after the Revolution, he lived precisely when a Deaf-World-with its own language, social institutions, and culture-was forming. Harlan Lane, award-winning historian of the Deaf, argues that deaf people are often visually gifted, and that Brewster, as a deaf artist, is part of a long and continuing distinguished tradition. Lane's unprecedented biography both vividly and comprehensively explores Brewster's worlds: he was a seventh-generation descendant of William Brewster, who led the Pilgrims on the Mayflower voyage; he was a member of the Federalist elite; a Deaf man; and, finally, an artist. In 1817, at the age of fifty-one, Brewster attended the first school for the Deaf in America, the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf & Dumb Persons. It's extraordinary to imagine that this was the first time he experienced fluent conversation and real social and intellectual exchange. Yet, as Lane notes, Brewster's ambivalence about this minority reflects the difficult choices confronting many Deaf people, then and now. Including little-known information on the French roots of the American Deaf-World; the Deaf communities of Martha's Vineyard, Maine, and New Hampshire in the nineteenth century; and on contemporary Deaf art, A Deaf Artist in Early America provides a multifaceted glimpse of Brewster, New England history, and the distinctive culture, language, and social institutions of the Deaf in America. |