Visions of the American West People

Fülszöveg

PEOPLE
Following the Lewis and Clark expedition, Americans became keenly aware of the continent's vast undeveloped interior and the potential it offered. As the nineteenth century progressed, more travelers wcnz west, first to explore, then to exploit, and finally to settle the land. As tales of opportunity trickled eastward, it vi'as inevitable that the nation become obsessed with its vast western lands. "What many Americans failed to consider was that this "wilderness" was home to millions of natives, plus French and Spanish explorers, missionaries, and traders. The arrival of the newcomers led to conflict, but also coexistence and assimilation among the differing cultures. Then there was the battle with the land itself. Most of the new residents were not prepared for the rugged, dry, and often-inhospitable land that awaited them, but they toiled on nonetheless in their struggle to create their own version of paradise.
This westward movement and its aftermath was an epic human... Tovább

Fülszöveg

PEOPLE
Following the Lewis and Clark expedition, Americans became keenly aware of the continent's vast undeveloped interior and the potential it offered. As the nineteenth century progressed, more travelers wcnz west, first to explore, then to exploit, and finally to settle the land. As tales of opportunity trickled eastward, it vi'as inevitable that the nation become obsessed with its vast western lands. "What many Americans failed to consider was that this "wilderness" was home to millions of natives, plus French and Spanish explorers, missionaries, and traders. The arrival of the newcomers led to conflict, but also coexistence and assimilation among the differing cultures. Then there was the battle with the land itself. Most of the new residents were not prepared for the rugged, dry, and often-inhospitable land that awaited them, but they toiled on nonetheless in their struggle to create their own version of paradise.
This westward movement and its aftermath was an epic human drama that was memorably recorded on canvas-and later in photographs—by an intrepid group of artists that made the landscapes and people of the West the primary focus of their lives. During the artists lives, their work—filled with Indians, pioneers, cowboys, soldiers, and other memorable individuals—amazed people and helped to spur on westward migration. And once the "Wild West" had largely disappeared, the art they created fiaeled a strong nostalgia for a time and a place—and people—whose departure had left a vast hole in the collective American soul.
Visions of the American West: People is the story, in picture and words, of the memorable individuals-both natives and newcomers-who helped the West assume such an important place in our history and culture. It is a journey, through time and place, that begins with the earliest explorer-artists, including George Catlin and Karl Bodmer, who traveled to the West intent on recording the lives of the native people before their world was overrun by white newcomers. The story continues on through white settlement and the inevitable conflict that resulted. In the process of recording the iconic figures of the West—the cowboys and the Indians—the talented and prolific painters Frederic Remington and Charles Marion Russell effectively created both the "Wild West" and the genre of western art. As the western wars came to an end, artists and photographers such Oscar E. Berninghaus and Edward S. Curtis turned their attention back to the Native Americans and the cowboys, but with a different purpose in mind—to capture the last vestiges of cultures that were on the verge of disappearing.
With more than 200 masterworks by some of America's most-revered artists, plus lively and informative text, Visions of the American West: People promises even the most casual aficionado of the West or western art a memorable journey populated by a host of unique and timeless characters. Vissza