Measure and Design in American Painting, 1760-1860

First published in 1977. The purpose of this study is to locate the sources for the American style of painting characterised by measure and design - the representation of the specific and familiar according to principles of pictorial order. The reader shall see that there were a variety of conventions available to the artist and that his selection of one or another of them depended upon pragmatic, philosophical, and aesthetic considerations.

Lisa Fellows Andrus

Acknowledgements; Preface; 1. Introduction: The Practical and Philosophical Background for Design and Measure 2. Out of the Craft Tradition 3. The Influence of Academic Instruction Books 4. The Role of the Academic Tradition 5. The Development of a Practical Basis for Institutionalized Art Education 6. The Role of Tools and Books in the Development of American Landscape Painting 7. The Aesthetic of Perspective; Afterword; Selected Bibliography; List of Illustrations; Illustrations