From child of the South to modernist master

“Seebohm brings her exceptional gift for storytelling to the life of this important but underknown American artist.”—Graham Boettcher, William Cary Hulsey Curator of American Art, Birmingham Museum of Art

“A fascinating story. It is also the history of the intense struggle between figurative and abstract sculpture in mid-twentieth century art, a struggle that still continues to this day.”—Edwina Sandys, artist and winner of the United Nations Society of Writers and Artists Award for Excellence

“Brings together all the unique chapters of Ann Norton’s life. Seebohm is not afraid to share with the reader Norton’s disappointments, successes, and her final legacy.”—Cynthia Palmieri, executive director, Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, Inc.

In 1929, the Museum of Modern Art opened its doors, showing the astonishing paintings of Picasso, Matisse, and other avant garde artists. Young American artists quickly responded by experimenting with impressionism, cubism, and abstraction.

In Monumental Dreams, author Caroline Seebohm tells the riveting story of how Ann Norton (1905–1982)—a child of the South who had eschewed her Alabama roots to become a sculptor in New York City—joined this new guard. She studied with John Hovannes and Jose de Creeft and was studio assistant to Alexander Archipenko. Her work was well received, and by age 35, she had already participated in group shows at MOMA and the Whitney Museum of American Art.