Thomas Nast - The Artist in Color

The personal life and history of Thomas Nast has been a mystery, overshadowed by the plethora of works about his career as the Father of American Caricature.

The author goes where no other has ventured, into Mr. Nasts family history, dating back to eighteenth-century Germany; investigating skeletons in the family closet (Mr. Nast actually did own a real skeleton that he would pose for his many sketches containing the figure); and bringing to life some of his 3,000 images through color.

With nineteen full-page color family portraits, ten full-page color images of the Civil War and artwork, and eleven full-page color political images that mirror our present-day social and economic woes, this book is a memorial tribute to the honor and brilliant original imagination that manifested in the artistic talent of a remarkable man.

Was Thomas Nast a clairvoyant, as some historical articles asked, whose sketches of 150 years ago depicted Americas political, social, and economic upheaval we find ourselves in today? Readers must draw their own conclusions.

The author fell in love with the artwork of Thomas Nast in 2006 and since has restored over sixty of his sketches and portraits, bringing them to life in color, including forty select images in this book. While researching the artist, she has undertaken the task of bringing to light anecdotal heretofore unrevealed facts about the artist, his family, and the life history that formed his political views. It is a story worth telling about a life worth living, the incomparable truth and integrity of an incorruptible man.

The author is an amateur artist, a prolific writer, a political junkie, and a family history buff. Put these attributes together with an intense interest in the man that was Thomas Nast, and we have a book worth reading.