Books by Katie A. Pfohl

Inventing Acadia: Painting and Place in Louisiana

by Katie A. Pfohl

A wide-ranging study of Louisiana landscape painting that places art from the region into a broader national and global context

With its dense forests and swamps, Louisiana captured the imagination of writers and painters who viewed its landscape as a fascinating, untamed wilderness. Starting in the 1820s when French émigrés brought the Barbizon school to New Orleans, the state attracted artists from Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the greater United States who shared ideas and experimented with approaches to the enigmatic scenery. Although Louisiana was in many ways an artists’ paradise, the land also bore the scars of colonialism and the forced migrations of slavery. Inventing Acadia explores this complex history, following the rise of Louisiana landscape art and situating it amid the cultural shifts of the 19th century. The authors engage not only with artworks but also with the issues that informed them—representations of race and industry, international trade, and climate change. These issues are then carried into the present with a look at the work of contemporary artist Regina Agu. Inventing Acadia establishes Louisiana’s role in creating a new vision for American art and highlights the continued relevance of landscape and representation.

Distributed for the New Orleans Museum of Art

Exhibition Schedule:
New Orleans Museum of Art
(November 16, 2019–January 26, 2020)

The Art of American Still Life Audubon to Warhol

by Bill Brown, Katie A. Pfohl, Carol Troyen, Mark DeSaussure Mitchell

An engaging survey of American still-life painting that reinterprets beloved works and introduces lesser-known ones, providing a compelling new synthesis of the subject

The Art of American Still Life reconsiders the development and cultural significance of still-life painting in America, exploring renowned treasures alongside recently discovered works--some previously unpublished--in unexpected ways.

Taking an innovative approach to the genre, this captivating survey newly divides American still life into four discrete eras, each characterized by a predominant form of vision: describing, indulging, discerning, and animating. Works are grouped in "conversations" and explored in accompanying texts to reveal wider cultural meaning. Introductory essays investigate the many interactions between still life and American culture, examining the close connections between still-life painting and other visual discourses, including natural history, illustration, and commercial photography; the roles objects have played in American literature and art; the Philadelphia region's defining and lasting impact on the genre; and the reception of still life in American art and art history.

The first major study of American still life in a generation, The Art of American Still Life is destined to become a standard reference on the subject.

Published in association with the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Exhibition Schedule:

Philadelphia Museum of Art
(10/27/15-01/10/16)