In recent weeks, I have discovered two new books about the life and career of Lorado Taft. Lynn Allyn Young has written Beautiful Dreamer: The Completed Works and Unfulfilled Plans of Sculptor Lorado Taft. Published in 2012 by Quality Books, Inc. based in Oregon, Illinois, this 136-page paperback book contains many photographs of Taft’s existing sculptures, several interesting classic pictures, and extracts from several publications. One appendix of the book contains an exhaustive list of Taft’s sculptural creations. The book can be ordered from Young’s website: http://taftbeautifuldreamer.com/
Robert G. La France, curator of pre-modern art at the Krannert Art Museum on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Henry Adams, and Stephen Thomas have almost finished editing Allen Weller’s Lorado Taft: The Chicago Years. To be published in 2013 by the University of Illinois Press, the book will cover 50 years of the sculptor’s life and work. All of Taft’s major works are considered and most are illustrated. The Lorado Taft papers and the Allen Weller papers in the University of Illinois Archives are considerably utilized all through the book.
