A revolution in wood

Smithsonian American Art Museum

The catalogue, published by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and distributed by Random House, is written by Nicholas R. Bell with a foreword by Elizabeth Broun, the museum’s director, and includes an interview with Fleur Bresler by Kenneth R. Trapp, former curator-in-charge at the Renwick Gallery. Bell's essay examines contemporary wood art's historical roots and its rapid growth since the 1970s, with a focus on how its development outside the studio craft movement shaped the current field. Bresler's interview offers a window on the collector's passion and highlights her twenty-five-year dedication to wood and the artists she considers family. The section “Wood Art at the Renwick Gallery” illustrates in color more than 200 objects by more than 100 artists in the museum's wood-art collection, marking the first time this premier public collection is available in print.