
American Encounters: Art, History, and Cultural Identity
Angela L Miller, Washington University in St. Louis
Janet Catherine Berlo, University of Rochester
Bryan J Wolf, Stanford University
Jennifer L Roberts, Harvard University
Copyright Year: 2018
Publisher: Washington University Libraries
Language: English
Formats Available
Conditions of Use
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
CC BY-NC-SA
Reviews





Quite comprehensive! A good look at American interactions and historical context. read more
Quite comprehensive! A good look at American interactions and historical context.
This book seems very accurate. Perhaps more could be included from outside (international) perspectives to give a more nuanced understanding.
Definitely relevant, though again, more in terms of intersectionality would be preferable.
Easy to read and follow.
The text is quite consistent in its framework. The foundations are good.
This could certainly be split into assigned readings for groups.
Clear and organized. A good flow.
Straight forward navigation.
Solid grammar and spelling.
As per previous comments, more intersectionality.





This text covers Ancient times to contemporary times in American Art with inclusion of various perspectives such as post-nationalism, post-colonialism, and feminist theory in combination with a “visual studies” approach to art history in the... read more
This text covers Ancient times to contemporary times in American Art with inclusion of various perspectives such as post-nationalism, post-colonialism, and feminist theory in combination with a “visual studies” approach to art history in the United States. There are many aspects in which the text frames various topics in such a way that both the topic of the art and context of the America's controversial history are explored in synergy.
The material is accurate and fluent in its content. I appreciate the attention to the complex issues of history that can have more than one "truth". The facts and images are well supported and researched.
This text appears to have a full scope of academic perspectives to view American historical art which will continue to be important in the study of art and culture in America for the next generation of students. As such, it seems as to have substantial longevity the text will need to be updated with the new issues that artists have faced over the past few years. There is no doubt that the American art world has changed because of Covid and the impact will be important to document in the context of the “cultural traditions and boundaries” presented in this text.
The material in the text is very clear and straight forward. What helps with this is how the images are used within the content as well as all examples are defined within a context of other cultural elements. For the most part, the art is presented chronologically which helps the reader follow the progression of the cultural traditions. When there could be some confusion, like the way in which the definition of feminism changed from the 1970s to the 1980s, there are direct explanations in the text explaining how this type of cultural shift is represented by the artists and their concepts.
This text is consistent across each chapter and section. The way in which new rhetorical concepts are introduced are clearly indicated in bold. The general organization introduces a concept and then offers specific examples of artists that fall within the theoretical modalities described within the concept. The conclusions are consistent and helpful: At the end of each chapter these sections help to rephrase key terms from that section within the context of the whole book.
The modularity of this text seems positive in that each chapter could be used independently though the flow of the entire text is well integrated. This text covers 19 substantial chapters and, as such, I would imagine some instructors would need to edit out some chapters for schools that teach on a term schedule. Because there is significant substance on the cultural aspects of the art within the rhetoric, these chapters could also be used in courses as supplements beyond art history based classes.
I appreciate the flow and the depth in which the cultural significance is illuminated. There is a nice balance of information between the culture, the art, the theory, and the artists. There is good analysis of how and why these aspects interacted with each other. The way the material is organized shows that this is a textbook that could be used for someone who wants to teach more than a list of names and dates in history.
This book displays as a PDF download and I do not see any issues.
I do not see any errors.
The cultural relevance is the highlight of this text. It integrated indigenous primary source material, a variety of political and theoretical perspectives, images from folk arts and crafts, high art, installation art, and architecture. Although these genera can often be seen in a limited and factual ideation, this text adds the depth of a multicultural context, geography, and a global understanding to how artists in America evolved their values, conflicts, and struggles as represented by meaningful artifacts and images.
If I was teaching a course in American Art History I would use this textbook.
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Chapter 1: The Art of Indigenous Americans before 1500 C.E.
- Chapter 2: The Old World and the New: First Phases of Encounter, 1492-1750
- Chapter 3: Early Colonial Arts, 1632-1734
- Chapter 4: Late Colonial Encounters: The New World, Africa, Asia, and Europe, 1735-1797
- Chapter 5: Art, Revolution, and The New Nation, 1776-1828
- Chapter 6: The Body Politic, 1828-1865
- Chapter 7: Native and European Arts at the Boundaries of Culture: The Frontier West and Pacific Norrthwest, 1820s-1850s
- Chapter 8: Nature's Nation, 1820-1865
- Chapter 9: Post-War Challenges: Reconstruction, the Centennial Years, and Beyond, 1865-1900
- Chapter 10: A New Internationalism: The Arts in an Expanding World, 1876-1900
- Chapter 11: Exploration and Retrenchment: The Arts in Unsettling Times, 1890-1900
- Chapter 12: The Arts Confront the New Century: Renewal and Continuity, 1900-1920
- Chapter 13: Transnational Exchanges: Modernism and Modernity Beyond Borders, 1913-1940
- Chapter 14: The Arts and the City, 1913-1940
- Chapter 15: Searching for Roots, 1918-1940
- Chapter 16: Social Visions: The Arts in the Depression years, 1929-1941
- Chapter 17: Cold War and the Age of the Atom: Consensus and Anxiety, 1945-1960
- Chapter 18: Art into Life, 1960-1980
- Chapter 19: American Art in Flux, 1980-Present
- Glossary
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Picture Credits
- Index
Ancillary Material
About the Book
American Encounters provides a narrative of the history of American art that focuses on historical encounters among diverse cultures, upon broad structural transformations such as the rise of the middle classes and the emergence of consumer and mass culture, and on the fluid conversations between "high" art and vernacular expressions. The text emphasizes the intersections among cultures and populations, as well as the exchanges, borrowings, and appropriations that have enriched and vitalized our collective cultural heritage.
Contributors: Margaretta M. Lovell, David Lubin
About the Contributors
Authors
Angela L Miller, Washington University in St. Louis
Janet Catherine Berlo, University of Rochester
Bryan J Wolf, Stanford University
Jennifer L Roberts, Harvard University