Don Eddy: The Resonance of Realism in the Art of Post War America: Prologue

The specific course and turns of events that have led to this book are not of particular interest. What is important for the reader to know is that I am an art historian with a specialization in the Italian Renaissance and with a concentration in Western art from antiquity through the mid 18th century. After spending twenty years in the academic arena as a graduate student and University faculty member, in the late 80's I left that system to work in the private sector with collectors and as a free lance scholar. I have continued to work with Old Master paintings and sculpture. More importantly, in terms of the present enterprise of having written a book on Don Eddy, around 1989, I found my way to the arena of Post War American Realism. It was in that year that I began to work with a prominent collector of American Realism, Richard D. Segal, with whom I continue to be associated both professionally and as a friend, and to whom I am indebted for opening a new chapter of art history to me.

From the vantage point of my training and experiences, as I have surveyed the field of prominent Post War American Realists over the past decade, I have personally singled out certain of these artists whom I find to be extraordinary creative talents. One of these artists is Don Eddy. This book pays homage to Don, whose art opened up for me an unexpected adventure in the history of art that the willing reader might wish to share in the text that follows.

The other wonderful opportunity that was opened to me during my work on this manuscript was the invitation extended to me by Marie-Claude Fischer, President and Editorial Director of the ArtRegister Network, to publish the manuscript on the internet. This invitation represents an extraordinary occasion to be part of a project that will be at the forefront of a whole new branch of 'publishing.' It engages the potential offered by the internet as a platform for all sorts of data, in this case, especially, the democratic dissemination of noncommercial, erudite texts, articles and ideas. The immediate accessibility of the text to any single individual, in any part of the world, is one of the most exciting and important advantages of making a scholarly book available through this extraordinary late 20th century communication technology.

	DON EDDY: THE RESONANCE OF REALISM IN THE ART OF POST WAR AMERICA An art history monograph Internet publication by Virginia Anne Bonito, 1999. Published by ArtregisterPress.com. © Virginia Anne Bonito, 1999. All rights reserved.
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