"Among Louisiana's many unique aspects is its flat, humid landscape of bayous, marshes, and swamps and an extraordinary group of artists who have depicted it for more than a century and a half. No one is more knowledgeable about contemporary art in Louisiana than John Kemp, and he has now written a wonderful book on the best landscape painters working today. His rich and varied selection offers many surprises. For while there are artists here both familiar and famous, there are many who are new and fresh. Together they present a visually compelling and complex view of the Louisiana landscape."
E. John Bullard, director emeritus, New Orleans Museum of Art
"John Kemp presents us with a timely and much-needed survey of thirty-seven currently active Louisiana landscape paintersa welcome endeavor in this cyber-hyped age. Kemp presents serious working artists who still work from life, or 'plein air' as it is called.
"Following an incisive and informative first course, we are treated to a banquet of visual delights, ranging from the 'symbolic' to the 'ideal,' as varied interpretations of our unique natural inheritance. Included are biographical sketches along with individual artists' aesthetic exegeses."
Auseklis Ozols, founder and director of the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts
"There is no more qualified author to examine the state of contemporary Louisiana landscape painting than John Kemp. He has spent a lifetime chronicling Louisiana art through the eyes of a journalist, a museum professional, an author, a consultant, and, most of all, an admirer of the deep tradition of the visual arts in Louisiana.
"Looking through this lens of a lifetime, Kemp has chosen to focus on thirty-seven contemporary Louisiana landscape painters to examine their work not only through his expert eyes but through their own words as well. This book is far more than a survey but rather an attempt to mine the souls of these artists to bring the reader inside them for a greater understanding of their work and the sense of place, Louisiana, that each brings to all of us through their painting.
"This is an important and enjoyable book whose time has come."
Roger H. Ogden, New Orleans art collector and founder of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art