Patricia Mainardi

The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, founded in 1986 and now published by The Wolfsonian-Florida International University, explores themes relating to The Wolfsonian collection and to the visual language of objects. It conveys to readers the power of design and shows how design shapes and reflects human values and experience.

What is Florida? Where does its image come from, and what is involved in the selling of that image? The myths and realities of Florida unfold in these seventeen essays documenting the history and culture of the Sunshine State from 1875 to 1945. Since the time of Ponce de Leon, who sought the fountain of youth there, explorers, entrepreneurs, inventors, and visionaries have viewed Florida as a place where dreams come true. Florida's restorative powers were perhaps best expressed through the orange, which, though not native to the state, seduced myriad investors and served as a promotional icon. No other state mastered the art of propaganda—the ability to invent and promote itself—so well. Networks of trains, ships, and luxury hotels spawned a real estate boom and, with it, a distinctive architecture as fanciful as Araby, as classical as Mediterranean, and as enlightened as Modernist.… (más)

In Another World: Nineteenth-Century Illustrated Print Culture Patricia Mainardi makes a substantial contribution to the study of the history of print culture, focusing on the period from the late 18th century to the very early 20th century.

In her introduction she tells us that she intentionally chose neither "high art" nor the minutiae of everyday life but a middle path. By doing so she fills a need to look at more than simply high art or, at the risk of trying to cover too much, at everything. What absolutely comes through does indeed affect everything as she shows how influences flow in every direction and new technologies are often tested in one strata of the field before finding more and varied uses elsewhere.

As graphic novels are (or rather have been for at least a couple decades) making strides into what is commonly called "literature" this volume serves as a wonderful precursor to the current chapter of print culture and history.

In her conclusion she points out possible areas for further research and study and, as someone not educated in art or art history specifically, I also saw many wonderful opportunities for further research in the areas of sociology, literature, history and various area studies. The end notes and bibliography are both full of excellent sources from which one could look into an area in more depth or begin a separate research project.

The academic aspect I alluded to in the previous paragraph should not be taken to imply this is a dry academic book. The writing is very good and would be accessible to any reader with an interest in the area. It is also very well illustrated and makes a beautiful addition to a library for that reason as well.

I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in the history of print culture and/or anyone who likes to look at old images from the period under consideration.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (más)