The American Century: Art and Culture 1900-1950 [Hardcover]

Barbara Haskell (Author), Whitney Museum of American Art (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1999

As the century draws to a close, America has become recognized as one of the most, if not the most, powerful artistic and cultural forces in the world. Why and how this came about, and the astonishing parade of artistic achievement that resulted, is the subject of this extraordinarily rich volume.

The American Century is the subject of a year-long exhibition at the Whitney Museum — the most comprehensive display of twentieth-century American art ever assembled, incorporating a wide range of masterpieces from all sections of the country, by both familiar and lesser-known artists. This volume, covering the first half of the century, is a history of American art as well as a permanent record of the Whitney show. Here fine arts achievements are seen as part of the larger culture that helped shape them — the art forms of film, dance, music, literature, photography, decorative arts, architecture, fashion, and industrial design. All are described and set in the context of political and social currents of the era in Barbara Haskell's rich and informative text. Essays by noted experts in many fields illuminate developments in different areas of artistic endeavor while over 750 full-color and duotone illustrations give visual testimony to America's dominant role in the arts. over 750 full-color and duotone illustrations

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

To celebrate the coming millennium, the Whitney Museum of American Art is mounting a tremendous nine-month show covering American art from 1900 to 2000. The American Century: Art and Culture, 1900-1950, by curator Barbara Haskell, is the catalog for the first part of the exhibition. Included are images from painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, and design, providing a comprehensive overview of artistic and cultural ideas in the first half of this century. The book is broken into four chapters, beginning with "America in the Age of Confidence: 1900-1919," which includes beautiful John Singer Sargent paintings depicting American aristocratic life and silver objects from Tiffany and Company. Next comes the "Jazz Age in America: 1920-1929," with images documenting the importance of cinema: movie stills and an exquisite portrait of Gloria Swanson in lace. Also included in this period is a focus on industrial architecture as seen through the paintings of Charles Sheeler, Charles Demuth, and Joseph Stella, with their precise but almost abstract renderings of the changing American landscape. Chapter 3, "America in Crisis: 1930-1939," and chapter 4, "War and Its Aftermath: 1940-1949," include many photographs that map the changes in American life during this tumultuous period, from the dustbowl photos of Dorothea Lange to Weegee's pictures of the seamier side of New York City. Within the immensity of this catalog are discussions that relate the works of art to specific cultural phenomena and map the changing trends in the creation of American art. --Jennifer Cohen

From Publishers Weekly

A marvelous visual tour of an America growing in stature and confidence in the art world as it grows politically and economically into a superpower, this exhibition catalogue accompanies the first half of a survey of 20th-century American art and culture at the Whitney Museum. The widely diverse work coveredAranging from dance and commercial art to the creations of an avant-garde in dialogue with European Modernist factionsAis presented in more than 700 well-chosen illustrations. Although the book designers have done a wonderful job grouping the reproductionsAthe pages are often stunningAthe layout of the text is disorienting, as sidebars (50 short essays written by 22 contributors) often interrupt Haskell's main text. Still, particularly in Haskell's coverage of painting, sculpture and photography, the writers have supplied thorough political, historical and cultural contexts. Haskell shows that regionalist painter and printmaker Thomas Hart Benton found fame as a populist and nationalist, and that his reputation suffered when, faced with WWII, the U.S. public turned internationalist. Haskell also traces the impact of economic conditions on photography's subject matter. During the optimistic Jazz Age, when "an equation of America with the machine and technology" held sway, beautiful, idealizing pictures of machinery were in vogue. With the depression came a loss of faith in technology, and documentary photography capturing the plight of the rural poor became popular. While one cannot do justice to The Great Gatsby in a single sentence, as attempted here, this survey, given its vast scope and ambitious framing must be commended for its effective presentation of the big picture. (May) FYI: The exhibition opened this month. The second half, covering 1951-2000, opens in September and that catalogue, by Lisa Phillips, will follow in October.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393047237
• ISBN-13: 978-0393047233
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #210,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great images less than great text., January 8, 2003

By 

J. Remington "John Remington" (Adams, Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The American Century: Art and Culture 1900-1950 (Hardcover)

This, the first volume of a two volume work (this is by far the stronger of the two)may not contain the strongest prose in terms of capturing the moment in history when America finally began to assert her own unique voice in the visual arts, but it does boast many glorious images.

Maybe this book is nothing more than a glorified coffee table book, but what a fine, colorful one it is. The book is crammed full of beautiful reproductions of some of the finest work America's shores ever produced: Stella, Johns, Pollock, O'Keefe, Lawrence, Benton, Hopper and Calder all recieve detailed representation.

Being personally obsessed with the art of the Depression, I particularly valued the long, detailed chapter contained here.

Many hours have evaporated as I have lost myself in the many rich reproductions. This book, when enjoyed in union with Robert Hughes' excellent "American Visions" (which supplies the much needed rich prose), serves as a fine celebration of America's visual culture. A fine addition to any library.

10 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Less Art, More Culture, November 28, 1999

By 

marcus (indianapolis, indiana, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The American Century: Art and Culture 1900-1950 (Hardcover)

This is a survey of American culture, as manifested in everything from travel books, film, dance, to the fine arts. It lurches from subject to subject at times, but its strength is that it places the fine arts in their cultural context.

9 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing! A MUST HAVE for 20th Century Art lovers., May 9, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Manhattan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The American Century: Art and Culture 1900-1950 (Hardcover)

I pre-ordered this book from Amazon as soon as I read about the exhibit at the Whitney. Ths book is a wonderful compendium on art of the 20th Century and is loaded with information and great photos of what will become the "classic" works of the 20th Century.