American Art: History and Culture

by Wayne Craven

"American Art" set the standard for American art survey courses for the last decade by providing a thorough and engaging chronology of American art, including painting, sculpture, architecture, decorative arts, photography, folk art, and graphic arts. Wayne Craven presents art and artists within the context of their times, including insights into the intellectual, spiritual, and political environment. Along the way, Craven charts the growth of a distinctly American art culture. The resulting book is as much a history of American culture as of American art.

Genres: Art, Art History, History, Nonfiction

688 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Ellis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for: American Art

Craven is a typical old white guy art historian, only concerned with other old white guys. Women rarely mentioned and than almost always have their marital status included. Native Americans are idiots. Columbus was some sort of national hero. etc. etc. etc. The publisher tried to save money by printing some images in black and white which severely detracts from the appreciation of the work. A decent survey with decent critique and historical information if you can look beyone Craven's bias.

[Grace Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took this course online this semester which was very interesting and a little hard. I passed it with a 73% which is a C.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text here was good, offering interesting background information on artists and context for the pieces (especially furniture shown). BUT a lot of the pictures were black and white, which drove me crazy and the sections on furniture were still alienating (though that might say more about me than about the book).

[Tina Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have reviewed a few American Art History books for teaching the subject to high school students. This is the best book I have found for that purpose. It is very comprehensive in touching upon different styles, movements and artists and understandable to the average high school reader.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

used as jumping off point for american art and architecture class. pretty thorough.

i'm so desperate i'm putting textbooks on my list but i enjoyed it and i'm not ashamed to say it.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource!!!