Art in America is a stunning celebration of American art from colonial times to the present day.Divided into six historical periods，it examines how the art of each era both reflected and contributed to a complex visual narrative of a nation during times of discovery，growth and experimentation.Featuring a superb selection of over 250 iconic and little-known images，this book is a fascinating exploration of how the cultural，political，ethnic，economic and natural landscape of America has shaped national identity and consciousness.

Since colonial times，American art has been an inextricable part of the nation's complex history of discovery，growth，and experimentation.Artists have interpreted，commented on，and reacted to the issues of their times within styles as diverse as the portraits of the colonial age and the political art of the last years of the twentieth century.

Art in America is an informative and accessible introduction to the major movements in American art，from the Hudson River and Ashcan schools to Abstract Expressionism and Pop art.Divided chronologically into six chapters and covering the period from 1700 to the present day，it examines how the art of each era both reflected and contributed to the nation's complex visual narrative.A detailed introduction considers the paradoxes in American art，and six authoritative illustrated essays examine such subjects as the cultural impact of the American Civil War，and the global and national position of American art at the end of the twentieth century.Three shorter texts focus on the Chinese presence in early American culture，the importance of the cowboy as a theme in American art，and the history of Chinese painting in America.In each chapter，the essays are complemented by an extensive plate section，in which the works of art discussed are reproduced in full.Featured artists are diverse and range from John Singleton Copley，Winslow Homer and Mary Cassatt to Thomas Hart Benton，Jackson Pollock，Jean-Michel Basquiat，and Matthew Barney.

Featuring a superb selection of beautifully reproduced iconic and little-known images，Art in America is a fascinating exploration of how the cultural，political，ethnic，economic，and natural landscape of America has shaped national identity and consciousness.

Paradoxes in American Art—Michael Leja

Colonization and Rebellion (17oo-i1980)

 Peaceable Kingdoms: Colonization and Rebeilion—Margaretta M. Lovell

 The Chinese Presence in Early American Visual Culture—Patricia Johnston and Jessica Lanier

Expansion and Fragmentation (1830-80)

 Art in an Age of National Expansion: Genre and Landscape Painting—David M. Lubin

 The American Cowboy's Destiny—Elizabeth Kennedy

 Cosmopolitanism and Nationalism (1880-1915)

 Nationalism and Internationalism—Nancy Mowll Mathews

Modernism and Regionalism (1915-45)

 The Politics of American Modernism—Justin Wolff

 A Brief History of Painting in Chinese America to 194s—Anthony W. Lee

Prosperity and Disillusionment (1945-8o)

 The Innovative Moment: Postwar American Art—Robert Rosenblum

Multiculturalism and Globalization (198o-present)

 Nationalism and Globalism: Issues in American Art, 198os to the Present—Susan Cross

Timeline—Helen Hsu

Select Bibliography

Index

Photography Credits and Copyright Notices