American Visions: The Epic History Of Art In America

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Robert Hughes, acclaimed art critic and author of “The Shock of the New,” presents the sweeping history of American art in this masterful work. “American Visions” reveals the profound connection between the American people and their environment, a relationship that has fueled a rich artistic tradition. Across nine compelling chapters, Hughes explores over three centuries of American art, examining the movements, events, and figures that have shaped its unique trajectory. The journey begins with “O My America, My New Founde Land,” delving into the religious art and artifacts of early settlers, from Spanish invaders to New England Puritans, and exploring the distinct aesthetics of the Amish, Quakers, and Shakers, alongside the Anglophile culture of Virginia. “The Republic of Virtue” then highlights the neo-classical ideals embodied in the paintings of Benjamin West, John Singleton Copley, and the Peale family, as well as the public architecture of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Latrobe, and Charles Bulfinch. “The Wilderness and the West” showcases the breathtaking landscapes captured by painters like Thomas Cole and Frederick Church, who saw nature as divine, and chronicles the westward expansion through the eyes of artists such as George Caleb Bingham, Albert Bierstadt, and Frederic Remington, while also charting the changing perception of Native Americans. The post-Civil War era comes alive in “American Renaissance,” a period of cultural flourishing marked by Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ sculptures, the paintings of John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, and Childe Hassam, the extravagant Newport cottages, and the grand beaux-arts buildings of Stanford White and his associates. “The Gritty Cities” offers a contrasting view of the post-Civil War years, focusing on cast-iron architecture, the innovative designs of Louis Henri Sullivan, and the raw realism of Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, trompe-l’oeil painters, and the Ashcan School. “Early Modernism” introduces the pioneering American avant-garde, featuring painters like Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Joseph Stella, Charles Demuth, Charles Sheeler, and Georgia O’Keeffe, alongside the visionary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The dynamic decades of boom and bust are explored in “Streamlines and Breadlines,” covering the rise of skyscrapers and Art Deco, and the subsequent era when artists such as Edward Hopper, Stuart Davis, Thomas Hart Benton, Diego Rivera, and Jacob Lawrence captured the realities of American life. “The Empire of Signs” examines the post-World War II landscape, from the dominance of Abstract Expressionists like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning to the emergence of Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Pop artists, and Andy Warhol, alongside the independent visions of David Smith and Joseph Cornell. Finally, “The Age of Anxiety” delves into recent artistic developments, including the resurgence of figurative art, the rise of minimalism and conceptual art, the speculative art market of the 1980s, and the trends and concerns of the 1990s. Lavishly illustrated and rich with biographical details, anecdotes, insightful commentary, and sharp social history, “American Visions” is published in conjunction with an eight-part television series. Hughes describes this compelling volume as “a love letter to America,” offering an unparalleled exploration of its artistic heritage.

About the Author

Robert Hughes was born in Australia in 1938. He has lived and worked in the United States since 1970. He has been art critic for TIME magazine for more than 25 years. His books include monographs on painters Lucien Freud and Frank Auerbach, a history of Australian art, Heaven and Hell in Western Art (1969), The Shock of the New (1981), The Fatal Shore (1987), a book of social criticism entitled The Culture of Complaint (1995), Barcelona (1992), and a collection of reviews, Nothing If Not Critical (1990). Hughes is the recipient of a number of awards and prizes for his work, most recently an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

9780679426271 ISBN
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