LEADER 04757cam 22005774a 4500001 ocn733230662 003 OCoLC 005 20141212032636.0 008 111003s2012 nyua b 001 0deng 010 2011040208 020 9781594203268 (hardback) 020 1594203261 (hardback) 029 1 NZ1 |b14166282 029 1 AU@ |b000047837891 035 (Sirsi) o733230662 035 (OCoLC)733230662 040 DLC |beng |cDLC |dYDX |dBTCTA |dYDXCP |dBDX |dIK2 |dVP@ |dBWX |dCOO |dCDX |dIGA |dOCLCQ |dERE |dUtOrBLW 042 pcc 043 n-us--- 049 EREN 050 00 N72.S6 |bB398 2012 082 00 701/.03 |223 100 1 Benfey, Christopher E. G., |d1954- |=^A185727 245 10 Red brick, Black Mountain, white clay : |breflections on art, family, and survival / |cChristopher Benfey. 260 New York : |bPenguin Press, |c2012. 300 291 pages : |billustrations ; |c25 cm 336 text |2rdacontent 337 unmediated |2rdamedia 338 volume |2rdacarrier 520 " An incandescent journey to unearth the beginnings of American art. An unforgettable voyage across the reaches of America and the depths of memory, Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay tells the story of America's artistic birth. Following his family back through the generations, renowned critic Christopher Benfey unearths an ancestry- and an aesthetic-that is quintessentially American. His mother descends from colonial craftsmen, such as the Quaker artist- explorer William Bartram. Benfey's father-along with his aunt and uncle, the famed Bauhaus artists Josef and Anni Albers-escaped from Nazi Europe by fleeing to the American South. Struggling to find themselves in this new world, Benfey's family found strength and salvation in the rich craft tradition grounded in America's vast natural landscape. Bricks form the backbone of life in the rural Piedmont of North Carolina, where Benfey's mother was raised among centuries-old folk potteries, tobacco farms, and clay pits. Her father, like his father before him, believed in the deep honesty of brick, that men might build good lives with the bricks they laid. Nurtured in this red-clay world of ancient craft and Quaker radicalism, Benfey's mother was poised to set out from home when a tragic romance cracked her young life in two. Salvaging the broken shards of his mother's former life and exploring the revitalized folk arts resisting industrialization, Benfey discovers a world brimming with possibility and creativity. Benfey's father had no such foundation in his young life, nor did his aunt and uncle. Exiled artists from Berlin's Bauhaus school, Josef and Anni Albers were offered sanctuary not far from the red Piedmont at Black Mountain College. A radical experiment in unifying education and art, Black Mountain made a monumental impact on American culture under Josef's leadership, counting Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage, and Buckminster Fuller among its influential students and teachers. Focusing on the natural world, innovative craftsmanship, and the physical reality of materials, Black Mountain became a home and symbol for an emerging vision of American art. Threading these stories together into a radiant and mesmerizing harmony, Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay is an extraordinary quest to the heart of America and the origins of its art. "--Provided by publisher. 504 Includes bibliographical references and index. 505 0 The bamboo grove -- Jugtown -- The snuffbox -- Mexico -- The meander -- On the divide -- Cherokee clay -- Wedgwood -- Xanadu -- Arrangement in gray and black. 650 0 Art and society |zUnited States |xHistory. |=^A30365 600 10 Benfey, Christopher E. G., |d1954- |xFamily. |=^A185727 650 0 Artisans |zUnited States |vBiography. |=^A116747 650 7 BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Artists, Architects, Photographers. |2bisacsh 650 7 ART / History / General. |2bisacsh 650 7 ART / American / General. |2bisacsh 650 7 Art and society |zUnited States |xHistory. |2sears 600 17 Benfey, Christopher E. G., |d1954- |xFamily. |2sears |?UNAUTHORIZED 650 7 Artists |zUnited States |vBiography. |2sears 938 Baker and Taylor |bBTCP |nBK0009981758 938 YBP Library Services |bYANK |n7192075 938 Brodart |bBROD |n13281992 |c$25.95 938 Blackwell Book Service |bBBUS |n7192075 938 Coutts Information Services |bCOUT |n18152263 949 N72.S6 B398 2012 |hJOYNER89 |i30372014960972 |odjr 994 C0 |bERE 596 1 998 3108035