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"Written by the foremost expert on the Bruton sisters, this is the first detailed history on the incredible lives and contributions of California modernist artists Margaret, Esther, and Helen Bruton"--
List of contents
PROLOGUE: Lost in the Fire (October 1991)
CHAPTER ONE: An Attic in Alameda (1894–1915)
CHAPTER TWO: “The Brutons and How They Grew”: Studies in Art (1916–1926)
CHAPTER THREE: Margaret Bruton and “The Golden Age of Monterey” (1921–1928)
CHAPTER FOUR: “Three True Artists” (1929–1930)
CHAPTER FIVE: “Things Got Simpler”: The First Years of the Depression (1930–1935)
CHAPTER SIX: Esther Bruton: “An Extraordinarily Elastic Mind” (1935–1939)
CHAPTER SEVEN: Helen Bruton and “The Modern Mosaic Revival” (1933–1939)
CHAPTER EIGHT: “A Beautiful Array of Special Problems”: The Golden Gate International Exposition (1938–1940)
CHAPTER NINE: “We Prefer a Living Art”: Moving into Decorative Arts (1940s)
CHAPTER TEN: “A Truly Monumental Art Project” (1950s)
CHAPTER ELEVEN: “A Little Like Rip Van Winkle” (1960–1992)
EPILOGUE: A Legacy Restored
AUTHOR’S NOTE
ENDNOTES
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
IMAGE CREDITS
INDEX
About the author
Wendy Van Wyck Good is a writer, reference librarian and archivist, local historian, and the foremost Bruton scholar in the nation. She is also the voice behind the blog dedicated to the Bruton sisters, brutonsisters.com. Wendy is passionate about women’s studies and art history, especially to share stories about the fascinating women history has forgotten. She currently lives in Pebble Beach, California.
Summary
With color photographs and artwork, Sisters in Art is the first biography to capture the lives and works of Margaret, Esther, and Helen Bruton, three exceptionally talented sisters whose mark on the California modernist art scene still impacts our world.
Nominee, 2021 New Deal Book Award
"Great stories abound in this book, including the goings-on of the 'Monterey Group' of painters and an encounter with a teetotaling Henri Matisse at a North Beach cocktail party. If California had a Belle Époque, this was it. From their chubby-cheeked 'Gibson Girl' childhood through their sunlit dotage, the Brutons were exemplars of many aspects of California history and, in recent years, overlooked. Good’s book corrects this."
—Library Journal
"Both beautiful and substantial, Sisters in Art: The Biography of Margaret, Esther, and Helen Bruton. . . would make a great gift for the art lover in your life […] The book contains detailed-but-lively accounts of the sisters' lives and work, and is filled with black-and-white and color plates of their art."
—The Carmel Pine Cone
"An illuminating and heroic work... [Good] writes vividly about how all three Brutons continued to make art until the very end of their lives."
—Jasmin Darznik, New York Times–bestselling author of The Bohemians
"For decades, Margaret, Esther and Helen Bruton have been relegated to a side note in California art history. Yet their work has found new appreciation in the 21st century, and their fascinating lives and impressive artistic achievements are finally coming back into the light."
—Carmel Magazine
Educated at art schools in New York and Paris, the Brutons ran in elite artistic circles and often found themselves in the company of luminaries including Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Henri Matisse, Armin Hansen, Maynard Dixon, Imogen Cunningham, and Ansel Adams. Their contemporaries described the sisters as geniuses, for they were bold experimenters who excelled in a wide variety of mediums and styles, each eventually finding a specialization that expressed her best: Margaret turned to oil paintings, watercolors, and terrazzo tabletops; Esther became known for her murals, etchings, fashion illustrations, and decorative screens; and Helen lost herself in large-scale mosaics.
Although celebrated for their achievements during the 1920s and 1930s, the Brutons cared little about fame, failing to promote themselves or their work. Over time, the "famous Bruton sisters" and their impressive art careers were nearly forgotten. Now for the first time, Sisters in Art reveals the contributions of Margaret, Esther, and Helen Bruton as their works continue to inspire and find new appreciation today.
Foreword
ADS: targeted for IPS gift promotions; social media ads to target audiences.
AWARDS: submitted for regional; art; women’s; history categories.
EVENTS: targeted for Indie stores, libraries, galleries, museums, as well as locations like Feminist Art History Conference; National Women’s History Museum/“Chronicles of American Women”; National Women's History Alliance; California Art Club, etc.
REVIEWS: sought in trade, art and history, regional, women’s history publications.
ONLINE: trailer and trivia/art/women’s history focused social media promotions.
TRADESHOW: features including targeted CALIBA author presentation, ALA giveaways, gift show and art history conference promotions.
