Stephen M Sessler Editor

The general editor, and the progenitor of this book, Stephen M. Sessler, has with his wife Linda been an active collector of historical American art for many years. Joining the Fine Art Collectors group in Atlanta, Georgia, in the 1990s, they increased their knowledge hugely over time. Eventually, as that group's activities were scaled back, he saw an opportunity and founded the Atlanta Art Forum in 2006, becoming its visionary "dean," with the aim of meeting other enthusiasts and experts and discussing his chosen subject with them. He felt that so much information and knowledge acquired over twelve years should be available to a much wider audience, and this book was the result. Elizabeth Broun, PhD, Director Emerita of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and currently on the Board of Directors of the Henry Luce Foundation and The Olana Partnership, is Visual Art Advisor to the Kennedy Center for its expansion project, called The Reach. She contributes a Foreword that expands on the role of the Atlanta Art Forum over the last twelve years and explains why it has played such a leading part in the appreciation of historical American art, exploring the nuances and purposes of art collecting generally, and of American art specifically. The speakers invited to the Forum were at the top of their fields, and the city of Atlanta quickly found itself "on the map" as a major site for American art.