Art of the american west (Yale University Press)

This handsome book displays an extraordinary breadth of masterworks dating from the 1790s to the present, including over 140 artists in some 350 beautiful colour reproductions. In a variety of media and styles, iconic American artists including Frederic Remington, Thomas Moran, Charles M. Russell, and Georgia O'Keeffe, as well as under-explored artists such as Walter Ufer and Kevin Red Star, address the fascinating topics and themes of Native American culture, American politics, land conservation, and the implications of Manifest Destiny. The earlier art featured here helped to shape our perceptions of Native Americans, cowboys, and western landscapes; the recent and contemporary pieces shed a modern light on western cultures and challenge long-held myths and assumptions about the American West. Art of the American West is timed to coincide with the opening of a new expansion to the Tacoma Art Museum, brilliantly designed to house these artworks and to connect with and contribute to the city's culture and history. Lavishly illustrated, the book also includes insightful essays written by some of the most important scholars working with this material today.