American Art in the 20th Century - Painting and Sculpture, 1913-1993

The history of the visual arts in the United States during this century is one of assimilation followed by an explosion of indigenous creativity that altered the course of art. The Armory Show, held in New York in 1913, introduced Americans to the latest developments in European modernism. No less profound was the impact of Marcel Duchamp, who first visited New York in 1915 and was to acquire cardinal importance as a mentor to several generations of Americans who questioned traditional notions of art. The inter-war years were marked by American artists coming to terms with European movements - especially Cubism, Dada and Surrealism - yet such outstanding figures as Man Ray, Edward Hopper and Joseph Cornell were able to give expression to a quintessentially . American view of the world. The two poles of that view - an espousal of the sublime and a concern with the minutiae of everyday reality - have characterized art in the USA ever since.