American artists are among the most innovative & groundbreaking in the entire history of art. They have introduced new forms & styles & have helped to further push out the boundaries of artistic development. Written with a comprehensive introduction, this book looks in detail at the range of art that has been produced by American artists, with detailed commentary on 120 works -- all reproduced in full-color. Some of these are considered the most important pieces; others may be less well known, but they are all essential to the development of American art.

Covering topics from the natural to the historical and beyond, the Smithsonian Q & A books are essential for any family reference shelf. Questions and answers are authoritative and accessible. Full–color illustrations and the Q & A format enable users to learn all about their favorite creatures and subjects. SMITHSONIAN Q & A: AMERICAN ART will cover the history of American art and artists from the eighteenth century to the present. The book will encompass the visual arts, including painting, photography, and sculpture, and will feature prominent movements as well as artists from a variety of backgrounds.

American Art to 1900 presents an astonishing variety of unknown, little-known, or undervalued documents to convey the story of American art through the many voices of its contemporary practitioners, consumers, and commentators. The volume highlights such critically important themes as women artists, African American representation and expression, regional and itinerant artists, Native Americans and the frontier, and more. With its hundreds of explanatory headnotes, this book reveals the documentary riches of American art and its many intersecting histories. -back cover.

Celebrating the reopening of the newly restored Smithsonian American Art Museum, a premier collection of American art features more than 250 reproductions of great works of American painting, sculpture, folk art, and photography, by such artists as Edward Hopper, Georgia O'Keeffe, Nam June Paik, and other luminaries.

This anthology brings together twenty outstanding works of recent scholarship on the history of the visual arts in the United States from the colonial period to 1945. The selected essays--all written within the past two decades--reflect the interdisciplinary character of current art historiography in America and the variety of approaches that contribute to the dynamism in the field. The authors take up diverse subjects--from colonial portraits to nineteenth-century sculptures of women to photographic images of New York--and invite those with a general knowledge of the history of American art to think more deeply about art and culture. Employing many interpretive methodologies, including iconology, social history, structuralism, psychobiography, and feminist theory, the contributors to this volume combine close analysis of specific art objects or groups of objects with discussion of how these works of art operated within their cultural contexts. The authors consider the works of such artists as John Singleton Copley, Charles Willson Peale, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Jackson Pollock as they assess how paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, and photographs have carried meaning within American society. And they investigate how the conceptualization, production, and presentation of works of art both inform and are informed by prevailing attitudes toward the role of the arts and the artist in American culture.

"What's American about American art? Author Henry Adams examines 60 important works from the collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art, and comes up with some surprising answers. This prominent art historian finds unexpected diversity in a discussion that ranges from Native American artifacts to the work of Jackson Pollock. Profusely illustrated with more than 80 pages of color plates, many iconic images from this collection of American art are explored, from the works of John Singleton Copley, Thomas Eakins, and Winslow Homer, to the art of George Bellows, Marsden Hartley, and Georgia O'Keeffe, among many others."--Publisher's description.

This compact guide looks at the fifty biggest moments in art history and reveals the sometimes funny, surprising or shocking behind-the scenes stories. Art lovers can list history’s most important art objects, but what many don’t know are the dramatic, funny, and sometimes bizarre stories behind these most famous works. Spanning the last 500 years of art history, this book revisits fifty momentous events that changed the course of art—days when now world-famous works like Michelangelo’s David or Marcel Duchamp’s urinal were unveiled for the first time. In Key Moments in Art, chance meetings spur artists to create exciting new styles such as Impressionism or Cubism, landmark performances take place, and revolutionary exhibitions open. The book also looks at fights, lawsuits, auctions, and crime–from the theft of the Mona Lisa to the day van Gogh’s Sunflowers become the most expensive painting ever sold. Working chronologically, this addition to the Art Essentials series gives readers fifty bite-sized stories from the art world. Art historian Lee Cheshire breathes new life into favorite works of art by giving them context and sharing the gossip they created. Complete with Art Essentials’ signature sidebars, featuring key artists, collections, and events related to each moment, this book is perfect for the art devotee as well as the occasional museum visitor.

An essential guide to the multifaceted and increasingly connected global art community from 1900 to today. Global Art introduces some of the most significant art movements of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries that have challenged the status quo. Featuring fifty artistic developments from every continent, this volume covers movements born of decolonization, marginalization, and conflict. Ranging from the Saqqakhaneh artists of Iran to the Stridentists of Mexico, Experimental Workshop of Japan to America’s AfriCOBRA, it chronicles groups that have empowered and given voice to their members. Packed with bold and illuminating illustrations, the book demonstrates the distinct but connected roles of global movements in creating cross-cultural dialogues in today’s art world. Journalist Jessica Lack provides historical context for each art movement, key cultural events, and interconnections, bringing to life the protagonists in each movement’s evolution.

"A wide-ranging and inclusive history of American art and architecture from its seventeenth-century colonial beginnings to the latest installation and video work, this book: discusses the key artists, architects, art works, and buildings across the centuries; defines the characteristics of different periods and highlights the forms, techniques, and styles that are distinctively American; integrates discussions of works of visual art and buildings, revealing their shared social and aesthetic concerns; charts the ways in which American artists and architects both adopted and diverged from earlier European models to create their own language; and illustrates paintings, sculpture, photography, and new-media art plus dozens of building types, from colonial houses and churches to modernist and postmodernist museums, stations, and skyscrapers."--BOOK JACKET.