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Library Journal
Eight decades of American artist Barnet's work have reflected trends from social realism to abstract formalism in prints, drawing, and paintings. Published here is a recently uncovered collection of sketches figurative in their style. Vibrant yet precise, these were executed en plein air in the early 1930s while Barnet was a student at the Art Students League in Manhattan. The drawings evoke the life and vitality of city dwellers in summertime, enjoying New York's Central Park as a communal backyard. The 36 pen-and-ink drawings portray young lovers, sailors and their girlfriends, and mothers with children. This volume represents a very small sample of Barnet's oeuvre, accompanied by a short preface by the artist with an introduction by art critic and exhibit curator Robert C. Morgan. Although Barnet's work is held by major art museums, the published record devoted to him is primarily exhibition catalogs. This volume may be of interest to larger art collections, particularly those with a special focus on New York artists.
—Nancy Turner
Overview
These intimate drawings portraying Central Park during the Great Depression have never been exhibited or published—until now. The drawings have been stored in Will Barnet’s studio for decades, always serving as a reference and source of inspiration for later projects (like the etchings included here) but never coming to light as an independent body of work.
Barnet’s work has undergone many transformations —from figurative pen-and-ink drawings and etchings to contemplative ...