American Visions

Last updated
American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America
AmericanVisions.jpg
First edition
Author Robert Hughes
CountryEngland
LanguageEnglish
SubjectNon-fiction, American Art History
Published1997 (The Harvill Press)
Media typePrint (Hardback)
Pages635
ISBN 978-0676527841
OCLC 901568324

American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America is a 1997 book by art critic Robert Hughes. It was also turned into a 6-part documentary series featuring the author.

Contents

Contents

O My America, My New Founde Land
The Republic of Virtue
The Wilderness and the West
American Renaissance
The Gritty Cities
Early Modernism
Streamlines and Breadlines
The Empire of Signs
The Age of Anxiety

Reception

Kirkus Reviews gave a starred review and described it as an "eminently readable handbook on American art.", writing "His readings of three centuries of both art works and trends are lively, detailed, and persuasive (though perhaps a bit too harsh regarding recent art), and his ultimately pessimistic take is expressed with great clarity. A meaty and illuminating excavation, full of vigor and punch..." [1] Publishers Weekly noted "this is no bland, dumbed-down survey intended to flatter its subject or its audience. Hughes writes with an aesthete's disdain for political posturing, a traditionalist's belief in the importance of technical skills (painters are frequently taken to task for their shoddy draftsmanship) and a pragmatist's contempt for mystagogical bunk.", found "his account of the contemporary scene is disappointingly brief." and concluded "This slashingly witty, briskly paced, ferociously opinionated tour of the American visual landscape is a book that even the most un-likeminded readers will love to hate." [2]

A review by The New York Times calls it a "witty and impassioned history of American art from its beginnings to the present day", "beautiful and essential", notes that "Mr. Hughes fortunately remains the critic throughout his historical canvassing, making distinctions and judgments without taking sides." and concludes "With it, Mr. Hughes has made American art safe for the receptive alien deep inside us all." [3] American Visions has also been reviewed by the London Review of Books , [4] The Journal of American History , [5] and The New York Review of Books . [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Hughes</span> English poet and childrens writer (1930–1998)

Edward James Hughes was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1984 and held the office until his death. In 2008 The Times ranked Hughes fourth on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".

<i>The English Patient</i> (film) 1996 drama film directed by Anthony Minghella

The English Patient is a 1996 epic romantic war drama film directed by Anthony Minghella from his own script based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Michael Ondaatje and produced by Saul Zaentz.

Robert Studley Forrest Hughes AO was an Australian-born art critic, writer, and producer of television documentaries. He was described in 1997 by Robert Boynton of The New York Times as "the most famous art critic in the world."

<i>The File on H.</i>

The File on H. is a novel by the Albanian author Ismail Kadare. It first appeared in Albanian in 1981 under the title Dosja H.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Brustein</span> American writer and producer

Robert Sanford Brustein is an American theatrical critic, producer, playwright, writer, and educator. He founded both the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, and the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he remains a creative consultant, and was the theatre critic for The New Republic. He comments on politics for the HuffPost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. O. Scott</span> American journalist and film critic

Anthony Oliver Scott is an American journalist and cultural critic, known for his film and literary criticism. After starting his career at The New York Review of Books, Variety, and Slate, he began writing film reviews for The New York Times in 2000, and became the paper's chief film critic in 2004, a title he shared with Manohla Dargis. In 2023, he moved to The New York Times Review of Books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phillip Lopate</span> American novelist

Phillip Lopate is an American film critic, essayist, fiction writer, poet, and teacher. He is the younger brother of radio host Leonard Lopate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurie Keller</span> American childrens writer and illustrator

Laurie Keller is an American children's writer and illustrator. She has written and illustrated books for Henry Holt & Co. Books for Young Readers, and produced illustrations for others.

<i>CivilWarLand in Bad Decline</i> Collection of George Saunders short stories published 1992-1995

CivilWarLand in Bad Decline is a book of short stories and a novella by the American writer George Saunders. Published in 1996, it was Saunders's first book. Many of the stories initially appeared in different forms in various magazines, including Kenyon Review, Harper's, The New Yorker and Quarterly West. The collection was listed as a Notable Book of 1996 by The New York Times, as well as a finalist for the 1996 PEN/Hemingway Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayad Akhtar</span> American actor and playwright

Ayad Akhtar is an American playwright, novelist, and screenwriter of Pakistani heritage, awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His work has received two Tony Award nominations for Best Play, an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Edith Wharton Citation for Merit in Fiction. Akhtar's writing covers various themes including the American-Muslim experience, religion and economics, immigration, and identity. In 2015, The Economist wrote that Akhtar's tales of assimilation "are as essential today as the work of Saul Bellow, James Farrell, and Vladimir Nabokov were in the 20th century in capturing the drama of the immigrant experience."

<i>Arguably</i> 2011 book by Christopher Hitchens

Arguably: Essays is a 2011 book by Christopher Hitchens, comprising 107 essays on a variety of political and cultural topics. These essays were previously published in The Atlantic, City Journal, Foreign Affairs, The Guardian, Newsweek, New Statesman, The New York Times Book Review, Slate, Times Literary Supplement, The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, The Wilson Quarterly, and Vanity Fair. Arguably also includes introductions that Hitchens wrote for new editions of several classic texts, such as Animal Farm and Our Man in Havana. Critics' reviews of the collection were largely positive.

<i>Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie</i> 2017 superhero film directed by David Soren

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is a 2017 American computer-animated superhero comedy film based on Dav Pilkey's children's novel series of the same name, produced by DreamWorks Animation and the last DreamWorks movie to be distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by David Soren from a screenplay by Nicholas Stoller, and stars the voices of Kevin Hart, Ed Helms, Thomas Middleditch and Nick Kroll. The film marked the 20th anniversary of the Captain Underpants series. In the film, two fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins accidentally hypnotize their mean principal, Mr. Krupp, into thinking he is the titular "Captain Underpants", a superhero who fights crime while wearing only underwear and a cape, thinking he has superpowers. The movie loosely adapts the first, second, and fourth Captain Underpants books.

<i>Sam and the Tigers</i> Book by Julius Lester

Sam and the Tigers: A New Telling of Little Black Sambo is a 1996 Children's picture book by Julius Lester and illustrator Jerry Pinkney. It is a retelling of the classic story by Helen Bannerman and is about a young boy, Sam, who outwits a group of hungry tigers.

<i>Aesops Fables</i> (Pinkney book)

Aesop's Fables is a 2000 collection of 61 fables from the Aesop oeuvre, retold by Jerry Pinkney. It includes stories about wolves, foxes, lions, dogs, mice, and donkeys.

<i>The Astral</i> (novel) 2011 novel by Kate Christensen

The Astral is a 2011 novel by Kate Christensen. It is about a poet, Harry Quirk, who having been thrown out of the family apartment at the Astral by his wife Luz, attempts to get his life back together.

<i>Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History</i> Book by Walter Dean Myers

Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History is a 2017 picture book biography by Walter Dean Myers about the life of Frederick Douglass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Reynolds</span> American young adult novelist

Jason Reynolds is an American author of novels and poetry for young adult and middle-grade audience. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in neighboring Oxon Hill, Maryland, Reynolds found inspiration in rap and had an early focus on poetry, publishing several poetry collections before his first novel in 2014, When I Was The Greatest, which won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent.

<i>Midas Touch</i> (book) 2011 book by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki

Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich — And Why Most Don't is a non-fiction book about personal finance, co-authored by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki. The book was published in hardcover format in 2011. The coauthors became familiar with each other through mutual work at The Learning Annex, and The Art of the Deal. Trump was impressed by Kiyosaki's writing success with Rich Dad Poor Dad. The coauthors then wrote Why We Want You to be Rich together in 2006, and followed it up with Midas Touch in 2011.

<i>Insane Clown President</i> 2017 book by Matt Taibbi

Insane Clown President: Dispatches from the 2016 Circus is a non-fiction book by Matt Taibbi about Donald Trump and the 2016 United States presidential election. The book contains illustrations by Rolling Stone artist Victor Juhasz. Taibbi's choice of title for the book was motivated by Trump's marketing style and is wordplay based on the name of American horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse. His work was inspired by Hunter S. Thompson, who had previously published Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72.

Brian Staveley is an American fantasy writer. He has written an epic fantasy trilogy, The Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, the first volume of a sequel series, Ashes of the Unhewn Throne, a prequel novel, Skullsworn, and a selection of short fiction.

References

  1. "AMERICAN VISIONS: The Epic History of An in America". www.kirkusreviews.com. Kirkus Media LLC. 1 March 1997. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  2. "American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America". www.publishersweekly.com. PWxyz LLC. 31 March 1997. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  3. Lee Siegel (27 April 1997). "A critic interprets American art as a perpetual beginning". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  4. "Big Daddy". London Review of Books. LRB Limited. 19 (21): 10, 11. 30 October 1997. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  5. "American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America. By Robert Hughes". The Journal of American History. 85 (1): 200, 201. 1998. doi:10.2307/2568452. JSTOR   2568452. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  6. Louis Menand (26 June 1997). "Made in the USA". The New York Review of Books. NYREV, Inc. Archived from the original on 7 November 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2016.