Art and Ambition, 1887

American artist Frederick Melville DuMond (1867-1927) studied, painted, and exhibited in Paris, then painted in the American Southwest, France, and Italy. His works, writings, and life exemplify art as a profession for an ambitious American artist. DuMond was complex, adventuresome-romantic, teller of tales, an enterprising American in his quest for success. This study connects his works to academic art study in Paris, tourism in the American west, and traditions of scientific exploration as embodied in National Geographic and the American Museum of Natural History. Informed by historical-cultural analysis, the book looks outward from letters, writings, life events, and works to construct the artist's world of possibilities. Earlier 20th-century realist American art is experiencing a renaissance. DuMond, a rich personality with a compelling life story, painted many images that deserve to be better known. The book also reproduces his unusual narratives of painting and exploration in the American southwest.