A new look at French Orientalism’s influence on the art of the American West, showing how aesthetics and ideology jointly informed approaches to colonialism and expansion during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in both France and the United States From the 1830s to the 1920s, American artists such as Alfred Jacob Miller, George de Forest Brush, Joseph H. Sharp, Bert Geer Phillips, and Ernest Blumenschein traveled to France to study their craft. Returning from abroad, these artists looked to the American West in search of new subjects. Influenced by French Orientalists such as Eugène Delacroix, Eugène Fromentin, and Jean-Léon Gérôme, the American artists applied an Orientalist aesthetic and ideology to their paintings, sculptures, and drawings, while at the same time creating works that appeared uniquely American. Exploring the ways that the visual tropes and knowledge structures of Orientalism influenced French and American colonialism and expansion, this volume considers the impact of French artistic techniques and tropes on the development of western American art. Other themes include the symbolism of desert landscapes and exotic animals, the role of world’s fairs in disseminating Orientalist spectacles and stereotypes, and the importance of artistic pilgrimage to the deserts of North Africa and the American Southwest. Historical and contemporary perspectives of Indigenous peoples of North America, Muslim Americans, and Arab Americans challenge, negotiate, and provide alternative perspectives to the artworks. Distributed for the Denver Art Museum Exhibition Schedule: Denver Art Museum (March 5–May 28, 2023)

Second Place, Presidio La Bahia Award, Sons of the Republic of Texas The Gulf Coast has been a principal place of entry into Texas ever since Alonso Alvarez de Pineda explored these shores in 1519. Yet, nearly five hundred years later, the maritime history of Texas remains largely untold. In this book, Richard V. Francaviglia offers a comprehensive overview of Texas' merchant and military marine history, drawn from his own extensive collection of maritime history materials, as well as from research in libraries and museums around the country. Based on recent discoveries in nautical archaeology, Francaviglia tells the stories of the Spanish flotilla that wrecked off Padre Island in 1554 and of La Salle's flagship Belle, which sank in 1687. He explores the role of the Texas Navy in the Texas Revolution of 1835-1836 and during the years of the Texas Republic and also describes the Civil War battles at Galveston and Sabine Pass. Finally, he recounts major developments of the nineteenth century, concluding with the disastrous Galveston Hurricane in 1900. More than one hundred illustrations, many never before published, complement the text.

Believing in Place is the personal testimony of a scientist who discovers the divine in the land he has studied for decades. Geographer Richard V. Francaviglia recounts his own awakening to the spirituality of "place" as he suddenly sees the sacred dimension of science. The Great Basin is the focus of Francaviglia's meditations. It is a huge, physically diverse, and often misunderstood region that lies between the Sierra Nevada and Wasatch Mountains. It is also an area that fills the author with awe. "I feel more closely connected to the universe here than in other places. That epiphany has made my many trips into the Great Basin since 1960 pilgrimages, for I never fail to come out of this region restored and reenergized. I at-tribute that to feeling closer to both creation and the creator here," Francaviglia shares in his introduction. Wanting to understand the region's hold on him and others, Francaviglia set out to determine what gives the Great Basin its genius loci. As a historical geographer, he felt the place itself-with its topography, vegetation, weather, and climate-could be a major factor in deciphering both the spirit of the place and the human spirit. By employing a broad definition of spirituality, Francaviglia demonstrates that many people in the Great Basin are in search of meaning that depends on, yet transcends, the environment.