Samuel F. B. Morse's "Gallery of the Louvre" and the Art of Invention

Antoine Jean-Philippe, Bellion Wendy, Bjelajac David, Brownlee Peter John, DeLue Rachael Ziady, Gillespie Sarah Kate, Mayer Lance, Myers Gay, McClellan Andrew, Nemerov Alexander

Samuel F. B. Morse's (1791-1872) large-scale painting Gallery of the Louvre (1831-33) is one of the most significant, and enigmatic, works of early-19th-century American art. It is also one of the last works Morse painted before turning his attention to the invention of the telegraph and Morse code. Gallery of the Louvre, owned by the Terra Foundation for American Art, was the focus of three separate international symposia held in 2011-13 at the Yale University Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. This collection of essays, carefully drawn from the proceedings of these scholarly sessions, brings together fresh insights by academics, curators and conservators, who focus on the painting's visual components and the social and historical contexts that make it such a rich, complex work. The book accompanies a multi-year tour of the painting to prominent museums around the country.

About the Author

Jean-Philippe Antoine is professor of aesthetics and contemporary art theory at Paris 8 University.

Wendy Bellion is associate professor at the University of Delaware.

David Bjelajac is professor of art and American studies at The George Washington University.

Peter John Brownlee is associate curator at the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Rachael DeLue is associate professor in the Art & Archaeology Department at Princeton University.

Sarah Kate Gillespie is assistant professor of art history at York College, CUNY.

Lance Mayer and Gay Myers are independent painting conservators.

Andrew McClellan is professor of art history at Tufts University.

Alexander Nemerov is the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Provostial Professor in the Arts and Humanities at Stanford University.

Tanya Pohrt is the Marcia Brady Tucker Curatorial Fellow in the Department of American Paintings and Sculpture at the Yale University Art Gallery.

Richard Read is Winthrop Professor in Art History at the University of Western Australia in Perth.

Catherine Roach is assistant professor of art history at Virginia Commonwealth University.

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