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American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum Stacy C. Hollander et al. New York: American Folk Art Museum & Harry N. Abrams, 2001 778 illustrations, 572 pages. $75 (hb) Reviewed by Scott H. Suter To simply flip through this book is a pleasing visual experience--to realize that this is the record of one collection is staggering. Ralph Esmerian, a collector of obvious taste aand means, pulled this assemblage of American folk art together in more than thirty-five years of collecting. His twenty-plus years as a trustee of the New York City's American Folk Art Museum alone would demonstrate his commitment to that museum; however, his donation of the entire collection documented in this book exemplifies the level of commitment he maintains for locating a major folk art center in New York City. One can find many odes to his generosity elsewhere, here, however, the topic is a review of the fine book put together to coincide with his donation and its subsequent display at the Museum's new site. The book begins with a personal reflection by Esmerian himself, poetically recounting his discovery of the importance of artifacts to a full understanding of the past. After an equally brief foreword by Museum director Gerard C. Wertkin and an introduction to the collection by senior curator Stacy C. Hollander the next 354 pages are filled with images of the pieces themselves. Not encumbered with lengthy discussions, each piece is illustrated in color with minimal description in a caption. The images--all shot by photographer John Bigelow Taylor--are clear, sharp and pleasingly arranged on the pages, with some pieces being shown at actual size. Logically organized, the book is divided into chapters that group like pieces together--pottery, portraits, fraktur, etc. Separate from the color plates, the catalog has been reserved for the latter part of the book. While not intruding on the images, the catalog listing of each piece is accompanied by a postage stamp photo of each item along with the same basic information found among the color plates. Provenance and publication information follow, along with interpretive essays of various lengths for each piece. The list of contributors here is impressive, demonstrating the importance of the inclusion of specialists rather than only one editor. While Stacy Hollander has written much of the catalog, the insights of Helen and Steven Kellogg, Lee Kogan, Jack L. Lindsey, Kenneth R. Martin, Charlotte Emans Moore, Betty Ring, Ralph Sessions, Donald R. Walters, Carolyn J. Weekley, Frederick S. Weiser and Gerard C. Wertkin provide knowledgeable and insightful commentary. While this book is obviously a celebration of the one man's impressive collection, the commentaries in the catalog may steer too clear of controversial discussions of where various genres of art fit within the canon of American folk art. There are no mentions, for instance, of the place of non-academic painters in the world of folk art. Well-known studies such as John Michael Vlach's Plain Painters: Making Sense of American Folk Art do not appear in the textual discussions, nor are they mentioned in the useful footnotes. Perhaps a publication such as this is not the place for scholarly observations of how to label art. Still, an acknowledgment of differences of opinion may not have been misplaced. American Radiance is destined to take a place on the collector's bookshelf beside other well-known folk art catalogs. It may stand apart, however, because of the excellent quality of the color plates, and the unique arrangement of the images and the descriptive essays. This is a visually outstanding book which details an equally outstanding collection. Anyone interested in having a record of some of finest examples of American folk art must have this book.