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‘Night Vision: Nocturnes in American Art, 1860-1960,’ by Joachim Homann

Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff/Globe Staff

The advent of electricity sparked a prolific output of nocturnal images by American artists. Over the next century, nocturnes captured the evolving perceptions of darkness as artificial lighting changed the human experience of night, and they also played a key role in the development of modernism. Though forced to limit their palettes and abandon established styles and techniques, artists found certain freedoms — both personal and aesthetic — in picturing the night; darkness was the perfect canvas on which to toy with metaphor, symbolism, and the intangible. This book, with more than 100 illustrations, showcases night scenes by artists such as Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth, and Georgia O'Keeffe. The images range from realist to abstract, from urban portraits of the night to ominous, crepuscular, and often voyeuristic nocturnes in a wide variety of mediums. Bolstered by reflective essays, "Night Vision" is a survey of modernism and of personal expression, illuminating the powerful, lasting impact night vision had on American art. "Night Vision," Prestel, $60

ERYN CARLSON

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