PICTURING THE BANJO

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PICTURING THE BANJO by Leo G Mazow: This is the catalog that accompanies the "Picturing the Banjo" exhibit at Washington's Corcoran Gallery from 12-10-05 to 3-05-06 and which will then move to the Palmer Museum of Art at Pennsylvania State University from 3-30-06 to 6-25-06. Made popular in minstrel shows of the nineteenth century, the "banjar" derives from the stringed gourd instrument African slaves brought with them to plantations in the Caribbean and American South. From minstrelsy to the folk music revival of the twentieth century, the banjo has continued to attract audiences and acquire meaning. "Picturing the Banjo" gives this long history an entirely new dimension by tracing the instrument's representation in American visual culture from the eighteenth century to the present. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name, "Picturing the Banjo" offers the first examination of the instruments portrayal in images that range from anonymous photographs of performers to paintings by Thomas Eakins and prints by Dox Thrash. Organized by the Palmer Museum of Art of The Pennsylvania State University. 120 illus. 200 pp.
#655-1 .. $44.95