A radical re-evaluation of American modernism through four generations
of artists and their work - now in paperback.
"That rarity of rarities, an opinionated but not eccentric scholarly
history by a veteran museum curator whose every page crackles with
original thinking and bears the stamp of a preternaturally sharp eye?
Excellent reproductions and crisp typography complement the lucid
prose." --Wall Street Journal
Twentieth-century art in America has long been understood in two very
separate distinct halves: pre-World War II, often considered as inferior
and provincial; and the triumphant, international post-war work that
made a complete break with everything that went before. Agee discovers
exciting new connections between artists and artworks, which strongly
suggest that 1945 was not such a dividing line in art history after all.
His fresh research offers an innovative approach and a brilliant take on
art history.