How did artists of the twentieth century use their work to respond to their unique personal experiences and moment in history? This provocative question is explored in this engaging new book on American art. By focusing on broad, defining themes, embodied in the work of such pivotal artists as Georgia O'Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol, the authors look at how art provided a means for re-imagining America, visualizing what it had become, and where it might go in a century of turbulent change.

How did artists of the twentieth century use their work to respond to their unique personal experiences and moment in history? This provocative question is explored in this engaging new book on American art. By focusing on broad, defining themes, embodied in the work of such pivotal artists as Georgia O'Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol, the authors look at how art provided a means for re-imagining America, visualizing what it had become, and where it might go in a century of turbulent change.

1 AMERICA PASTORAL

 finding nature

 two tales of the city

 city lights

 the new nature

 spiritual america

 the industrial wilderness

2 SONGS OF MYSELF

 the end of realism

 slipping glimpese

 a map of the mind

 the space between art and life

 slipping selves

3 MEDIA IS THE MESSAGE

 the looking glass

 in memory of our feelings

 city of signs

 andy warhol is a readymade artist

 the spiritual wilderness

 i'll be your mirror

 NOTES

 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

 INDEX

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS