American Monuments - Finding New Dimensions

American Monuments: Finding New Dimensions chronicles this aspect of Van Alstine's art and highlights the significance of large-scale works in his career. Known primarily for work created in the studio and exhibited in galleries and museums, Van Alstine's public works reveal a distinct and vital facet of his legacy.

The book delves into a series of works that go beyond what many people typically know about Van Alstine, providing an even more insightful perspective on one of the masters of American sculpture, offering a fresh angle to the previous two books on his life and career, John Van Alstine Sculptures 1971-2018 and American Vistas: The Art and Life of John Van Alstine.

What emerges is an artist who used scale to expand his overall object-making aesthetic. Van Alstine's art is about engaging, elevating and balancing heavy, earthbound materials like stone and steel, infusing them with a sense of weightlessness and animation. By breathing life into these otherwise inert materials, he tells deeply humanistic stories. On a larger scale, his sculptures radiate energy and intensity, bringing his artistic vision to life.