American Art in Translation Book Prize
March 2019
Benoît Buquet’s Graphics: Art & design graphique aux États-Unis dans les années 1960 et 1970 (Graphics: Art & Graphic Design in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s) is the winner of the American Art in Translation Book Prize co-founded by Yale University Press and the Terra Foundation for American Art. The Prize is awarded to a non-U.S. author whose book-length manuscript written in a language other than English contributes significantly to scholarship on historical American art. The grant awards the winner a $5,000 cash prize; the Terra Foundation will fund the production of the book, which will be published in English by Yale University Press; and the winner will be invited to deliver a lecture at Yale University.
Graphics, which will be published in French by the Presses Universitaires François-Rabelais in Fall 2019, examines the intersections between art and graphic design in the 1960s and 1970s. Described by the book prize jurors as innovative, deeply researched, and imaginatively conceived, the book fills a gap in the scholarship on this era by successfully bringing together art and graphic design and offering new ways of thinking across these fields. Focusing on the works of George Maciunas, Edward Ruscha, and Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Graphics also offers new and compelling analyses of Fluxus, Pop, and feminist art practices. Benoît Buquet is an assistant professor of art history at the Université de Tours.
“Yale University Press has a long and distinguished history of publishing important books on graphic design and art of the 1960s, so I am especially pleased to welcome Benoît Buquet’s book to our list,” says Patricia Fidler, Publisher, Art, and Architecture, at Yale University Press.
The Terra Foundation-Yale University Press American Art in Translation Book Prize is awarded to a non-U. S. author whose work contributes significantly to scholarship on historical American art (c. 1500–1980). Single-author, book-length academic manuscripts originally written in a language other than English—previously unpublished or published within the previous five calendar years—in the field of American art history are eligible. Topics of interest include paintings, sculpture, graphic arts, photography, decorative arts, craft, and folk art. The first American Art in Translation Book Prize was awarded in 2016 to Hélène Valance, whose book Nocturne was published by Yale University Press in 2018.
Established in 1978, the Terra Foundation for American Artworks to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of historical art of the United States. The foundation has made it a priority to create an international dialogue that is lively and relevant, encouraging new perspectives that interpret American art in dynamic ways and making opportunities for engagement that resonate with individuals around the globe. To further cross-cultural dialogue on American art, the foundation supports and collaborates on innovative exhibitions, academic programs, and research worldwide. Read more about the American Art in Translation Book Prize on the Terra Foundation for American Art website (https://www.terraamericanart.org/what-we-offer/grant-fellowship-opportunities/terra-foundation-yale-university-press-american-art-in-translation-book-prize/)
