Product Description: In this provocative new survey of American painting, sculpture, photography, and architecture, David Bjelajac dismisses both the idea of an evolutionary development of styles and a uniquely American way of seeing. Instead, showing the interrelation of art, politics, and social change, he encourages readers to look at artworks from the point of view of contemporaneous audiences and within a larger historical context.
Explaining how shifting cultural values influence the way we interpret art, Bjelajac helps us to understand why people have reacted positively or negatively to various works at various times. Nearly 400 illustrations, 150 in full color, illustrate a vibrant, stimulating, and original work in which art is viewed not only in terms of its creation but also its reception.
DAVID BJELAJAC, professor of art and the human sciences at the George Washington University, lives in Washington, D.C.
Great buy ^ I thougt I got a great deal. I also received my book earlier than expected.
American Art ^ The History of American as seen throught the art it produced. A long and colorful history, showing that nothing exists in a vacumn. Art both influences and is influenced by events and ideas that surround it.
Why did he write this book? ^ The first and last chapters of this book make me wonder why the author actually decided to cover the subject. They show an increadible bias against the early colonists, Christianity, and western society in general. It makes me wonder why he wished to cover the topic of American Art History in the first place if he hates it so much. I also found his interpretations inaccurate on several occasions as he used scientific knowledge that would not have been known at the time the artwork was made. He does, however have a very good selection of rare artwork and shows the mixing of diferent styles very well.
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