The West of the Imagination

Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2009. Second edition. Large quarto in blue DJ, blue spine, xxi, 604 pages, b&w illustrations (some color); 29 cm. Extremely gently rubbed and bumped corners, extremely light soiling to boards, price sticker to front DJ, bright pages, tight binding, else Near Fine(+) in Near Fine(+) DJ. Hardcover. ISBN: 9780806135335

Arts, American -- 19th and 20th century. Extra shipping for heavy book. "For many people, "western art" immediately conjures images by Frederic Remington or Georgia O'Keeffe - but there's so much more. From early explorers' first sketches of the Rockies to the modern earth sculptures of Michael Heizer, images of the American West are as multifaceted as its cultures. This book embraces them all." "A landmark overview of western American art, the original edition of West of the Imagination brought the region to wide public attention as a companion to a popular PBS series of the same name. This new edition, significantly expanded and updated, shows that the West is a vibrant mirror of American cultural diversity. Through 450 illustrations - more than 300 in color - the authors trace the visual evolution of the myth of the American West, from unknown frontier to repository of American values, covering popular and high arts alike."--Jacket. Contents: PART ONE -- THE ROMANTIC HORIZON -- The view from Peale's Museum -- George Catlin: Saving the memory of a vanishing race -- European science and the noble savage -- The vogue for galleries and compendia: Stanley, Kane, and Easman -- "In all their savage glory" -- The mountain man: a fair likeness -- Painting the perils of the West -- Currier and Ives and the West -- PART TWO -- THE GOLDEN LAND -- Destiny and democracy -- Shattering the rim of Christendom -- Picturing Manifest Destiny -- The great reconnaissance -- Overland to an empire: dream, nightmare and reality -- The El Dorado vision -- Dreaming in San Francisco -- PART THREE -- IMAGES OF GLORY -- Bierstadt's mighty mountains -- The wonders of Yosemite -- Artist and photographer in wonderland -- The grandest canyon of them all -- Images of progress -- Episodes of glory -- Views of tragedy -- The resurrection of the vanishing American.; PART FOUR -- THE WILD RIDERS -- Frederic Remington: no teacup tragedies -- C.M. Russell: the cowboy genius -- PART FIVE -- PLAY THE LEGEND -- The American scout triumphant -- Cowboys and cameramen -- Pictures tell the story -- Cowboys create history -- Westerns make history -- PART SIX -- OTHER VOICES, OTHER WESTS -- The mysterious artist of the West -- Escape to Taos -- Left Bank of the Rio Hondo -- What have you done with your land? -- The Indian renaissance -- Montezuma's return -- The transcendent West of Georgia O'Keeffe -- The West of Jackson Pollock -- Photographing the postmodern West -- From the Old West to the New West: A paradox of perception -- We follow the sun: temples and tumuli in the Western landscape.