Winold Reiss and the Cincinnati Union Terminal

Gretchen Garner is an art historian and the author of Disappearing Witness: Change in Twentieth-Century American Photography. She curated and wrote the exhibition catalogs for Reclaiming Paradise: American Women Photograph the Land and Six Ideas in Photography: A Celebration of Photography's Sesquicentennial.

"Winold Reiss and the Cincinnati Union Terminal by Gretchen Garner is a valuable and timely reminder that both the Reiss murals and the terminal itself were on the apex of modernity when created in the early 1930s. … An important record of forward thinking in a city frequently accused of looking backward." (Cincinnati CityBeat) "Gretchen Garner has performed a high public service with her insightful work on Reiss's Union Terminal mosaics. We know they are highly valued, even cherished, by the people of Cincinnati. Now, thanks to Garner, we can see how they fit into the larger sweep of art history. While it is surprising that this level of study has not been done before, it is very welcome just as nine of the mosaics are returning to the city. The book will help inform and inspire the search for permanent home for these treasures." "Garner's easy-to-read outline of Reiss's work and career builds on previous scholarship…A colorful, accessible, and affordable introduction to Reiss and his public art." (Indiana Magazine of History) "Garner's highly readable discussion of the murals covers a wide range of art historical contextualizations, from symbolism, art nouveau, and Der Blaue Reiter to art deco, cubism, Mexican murals, and American regionalism…. This publication does great service both to the general reader interested in the strikingly complex background of Reiss's murals on American progress and transportation at the Cincinnati Union Terminal and the academic who is sure to find a novel and fascinating visual archive of European American modernism." (Ohio Valley History)