William Spratling, His Life and Art

by Taylor D. Littleton, John Shelton Reed (Foreword by)

Overview

In this lavishly illustrated biography of silversmith and graphic artist William Spratling (1900--1967), Taylor D. Littleton reintroduces one of the most fascinating American expatriates of the early twentieth century. Best known for his revolutionary silver designs, Spratling influenced an entire generation of Mexican and American silversmiths and transformed the tiny village of Taxco into the "Florence of Mexico." Littleton widens the context of Spratling's popular reputation by examining the formative periods in his life and art that preceded his brilliant entrepreneurial experiment in the Las Delicias workshop in Taxco, which left a permanent mark on Mexico's artistic orientation and economic life.

Spratling made a fortune manufacturing and designing silver, but his true life's work was to conserve, redeem, and interpret the ancient culture of his adopted country. He explained for North American audiences the paintings of Mexico's modern masters and earned distinction as a learned and early collector of pre-Columbian art. Spratling and his workshop gradually became a visible and culturally attractive link between a steady stream of notable American visitors and the country they wanted to see and experience.

Spratling had the rare good fortune to witness his own reputation -- as one of the most admired Americans in Mexico -- assume legendary status before his death. William Spratling, His Life and Art vividly reconstructs this richly diverse life whose unique aesthetic legacy is but a part of its larger cultural achievement of profoundly influencing Americans' attitudes toward a civilization different from their own.

In this lavishly illustrated biography of silversmith and graphic artist William Spratling (1900--1967), Taylor D. Littleton reintroduces one of the most fascinating American expatriates of the early twentieth century. Best known for his revolutionary silver designs, Spratling influenced an entire generation of Mexican and American silversmiths and transformed the tiny village of Taxco into the "Florence of Mexico." Littleton widens the context of Spratling's popular reputation by examining the formative periods in his life and art that preceded his brilliant entrepreneurial experiment in the Las Delicias workshop in Taxco, which left a permanent mark on Mexico's artistic orientation and economic life.
Spratling made a fortune manufacturing and designing silver, but his true life's work was to conserve, redeem, and interpret the ancient culture of his adopted country. He explained for North American audiences the paintings of Mexico's modern masters and earned distinction as a learned and early collector of pre-Columbian art. Spratling and his workshop gradually became a visible and culturally attractive link between a steady stream of notable American visitors and the country they wanted to see and experience.
Spratling had the rare good fortune to witness his own reputation -- as one of the most admired Americans in Mexico -- assume legendary status before his death. William Spratling, His Life and Art vividly reconstructs this richly diverse life whose unique aesthetic legacy is but a part of its larger cultural achievement of profoundly influencing Americans' attitudes toward a civilization different from their own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807156278
Publisher:	Louisiana State University Press
Publication date:	09/10/2014
Series:	Southern Biography Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	348
File size:	20 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Taylor D. Littleton is W. Kelly Mosley Professor of Science and Humanities Emeritus at Auburn University.

Table of Contents

Foreword John Shelton Reed xvii

Acknowledgments xxi

Introduction 1

1 Alabama 8

2 New Orleans, 1922?1925: New Friends, First Publications, and Travels with Faulkner 36

3 New Orleans, 1926?1928: Antebellum Sketching and "A Mirror of Our Scene" 67

4 Un Viajero Alucinado: An Enchanted Traveler in Mexico 111

5 "Passionate Hieroglyphics" and the Move to Taxco 128

6 Hard Times in the Silver City of the Clouds 155

6 New Designs from an Old Tradition: Verbal Preludes 207

8 "A Mexican Style of Our Times" 225

9 "Tell Them I'll Be There" 257

10 "Capitalization of a Personal Act" 267

11 "A Man as Free as the Wind": The Last Years at Taxco-el-Viejo 279

Selected Bibliography 307

315

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Littleton (Advancing American Art: Painting, Politics, and Cultural Confrontation at Midcentury, 1990. o.p.) here provides a scholarly, detailed, and exhaustive look at the famous silversmith/designer, illustrator, writer, and preserver/interpreter of Mexican culture. Unlike Joan Mark's recent book The Silver Gringo: William Spratling and Taxco (LJ 2/1/00), which emphasizes Spratling's silversmithing enterprise, Littleton's effort focuses more on the man. Although little firsthand information about Spratling's formative and early adult years exists, Littleton compensates with well-ordered conjecture and cultural context based on correspondence, contemporary articles, published works, and references to Spratling's many prominent friends. Owing to renewed interest in Spratling and Mexican silver (if the prices for related auction items on eBay are any indication), this title should fill a niche--especially in academic libraries.

-Rex E. Klett, Mitchell Community Coll., Statesville, NC
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher