The Eakins Press Foundation is an American publishing house based in New York established by Leslie George Katz in 1966 and named after the painter

Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American Realism (visual arts), realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artist ...

. Since its founding in 1966, the Eakins Press Foundation has published some of the classic volumes on American art and photography, including Lee Friedlander’s ''The American Monument'',

Walker Evans Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Resettlement Administration and the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great ...

’s ''Message from the Interior'', and Lincoln Kirstein’s definitive monograph on Elie Nadelman. The Eakins Press Foundation was recognized as a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

charitable foundation in 1974.

Details

Katz (1918–97), a former

Black Mountain College Black Mountain College was a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, and several others. The coll ...

student, established the press from the proceeds of a sale of his father's collection of Thomas Eakins paintings to Joseph Hirshhorn; to this day they comprise the nucleus of the Eakins Collection at the

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed ...

in Washington, D.C. The initial releases were a replica of the original 1855 edition of ''

Leaves of Grass ''Leaves of Grass'' is a poetry collection by American poet Walt Whitman. After self-publishing it in 1855, he spent most of his professional life writing, revising, and expanding the collection until his death in 1892. Either six or nine separa ...

'', the collection of twelve poems written by

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

that he had published himself; and ''Message From the Interior'' a collection of photographs by

, who was best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration that captured the effects of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Both published in 1966, they represented the beginning of the Eakins Press imprint. For the next three decades, until his death in 1997, Katz published 56 books that were described by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' as being "notable for their meticulous, elegant design", including works of photography, poetry, sculpture and the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...

. It published Lee Friedlander’s ''The American Monument'', and Lincoln Kirstein’s definitive monograph on Elie Nadelman. A January 1993 show at the Zabriskie Gallery in New York City featured selections of 14 works published by the Eakins Press Foundation, along with samples of the art produced by the artists highlighted in the books.Hagen, Charles
"Art in Review"
''

'', January 8, 1993. Accessed March 22, 2009. Since Katz's death in 1997, the Eakins Press Foundation continues to produce its "invaluable explorations of the American imagination" with publications including ''Circus: The Photographs of Frederick W. Glasier'' in 2009; Jed Perl's collection of essays on art and culture, ''Magicians & Charlatans'' in 2013; and '''O, Write My Name': American Portraits, Harlem Heroes'' (2015), a collection of fifty portraits taken by

Carl Van Vechten Carl Van Vechten (; June 17, 1880December 21, 1964) was an American writer and Fine-art photography, artistic photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary estate, literary executor of Gertrude Stein. He gained fame ...

of extraordinary individuals from the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African-American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics, and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the ti ...

. The current Director of the Eakins Press Foundation is Peter Kayafas.

References

External links

Eakins Press Foundation
{{Authority control Book publishing companies of the United States Publishing companies established in 1966 1966 establishments in New York (state)