American Visions : The Epic History of Art in America

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Summary: A panoramic view of American Art with vivid opinions
Review: Dismissing a critic simply because you disagree with him, even violently disagree with him, is to miss the value a critic has. A critic's role is to spark your own thinking and investigation, to encourage us to formulate our own views and develop our arguments for them more explicitly. Letting a critic supply you with your views or to simply reject him because he doesn't confirm your pre-dispositions is a waste of your own reading time as well as the work the critic put into to his work.

Rejecting a critic's views is fine, if you do it with well-formed argument and facts or for explicit aesthetic views and tastes. The whole purpose of affirmation includes the idea of rejection. Just as accepting everything is to accept nothing, making choices on acceptance includes the statement, "No, not this."

Robert Hughes has strong views and has the talent for stating them forcefully. Whether or not you agree with him is almost beside the point. This book is a wonderful tour of American Art from Colonial times through the mid 1990s.

While I don't want to try and state Mr. Hughes' views for him, my reading of this book tells me that when architecture, painting, and sculpture comes from an artist honestly trying to come to grips with his or her views of the world and our living in it, Mr. Hughes considers that a good thing. Whenever that is compromised in favor of social acceptance or whenever an artistic establishment forms to enforce an orthodoxy and muzzle expression he considers that a bad thing.

He also tends to favor actual skill, facility, and even virtuosity in expression (if not necessarily technique) over posing and demanding acceptance. The artist must be able to communicate to others and win an audience and hold them over time to win the author's admiration. Influencing others and having resonance with other artists and other times is also a plus.

The sorry state of art in our time with the dominance of a self-reinforcing elite art establishment in the museums, the shows, and the galleries comes in for a heavy beating later in the book. It isn't a blanket rejection of current art, rather it is a large pin the balloon of recent pretension and I think this is very valuable.

I see this in the book and hope I am saying this correctly in part because I agree with this view. Not every conclusion Mr. Hughes makes is one I find myself endorsing, but as I say, that is beside the point. He has mastered a lot of information, presents us with hundreds of wonderful works to consider, and challenges us to think for ourselves about the issues he raises. I think this is a wonderful service and that this is a wonderful book. I am glad to have it on my shelf to dip into again and again.

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Summary: New World Symphony
Review: I have been a fan of Robert Hughes since I fist saw the television show "Ths Shock of the New" and also his criticism in Time Magazine. In this book, he takes as his subject the epic of the American artisitc experience. In lesser hands this could be a dull topic, but thanks to Hughes's enthusiasm and interesting takes on American life, this subject becomes quite fascinating indeed.

Hughes begins at the beginning and starts off with a discussion of Spanish colonial art of the old west before moving onto the East coast and the founding fathers of American Art (West Copley, Peale and Stuart). When discussing the paintings Hughes ties it in with the politics of the various periods, the literature and even the music, establishing that art does not exist in a vacuum.

I have seem many of the works discussed in this work and found Hughes's insights inspiring in some instances sending off to look up material on them. The strongest sections deal with aside from the early American artists, Cole's The Way of Empire series, the Eakins, Steiglitz, and Masden Hartley.

Although I rate this book with five stars, I did have one or two problems. I would have thought that he might have examined Sargent's technique more thoroughly. I have always noticed that he seems to have a problem drawing hands.

The most profound disagreement that I have with Hughes is over theRegionalist movement of the 1930s. I am afraid I do not share his view of Benton. Rather than put him in the context of socialist realism and nazi art, I would have thought a more natural point of departure would be the discovery (some might say invention) of an early American aesthetic. Benton, Grant Wood and John Curry were more part of this trend than any of the international movement of totalitarian art.

I also disagreed with the section on the abstract expressionists who Hughes likes and I do not, finding them sterile and self-indulgent.

The book concludes with a survey of the art work of the 1980s and 1990s. This is more about commerce and perception and is illustrated by a story of the purchase of Van Gough's Irises. Whether one agress or disagrees with Hughes's judgements, oneis sure to find this survey of American art history stimulating and thought provoking.

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Summary: What I think is important in American art by R. Hughes
Review: In American Visions, Robert Hughes takes on the rather daunting task of summing up the history of American art. While he does not entirely succeed it is a valiant effort. By using nine time periods, Hughes attempts to make the understanding of the art he believes is important easier to digest. The inherent problem lies with the concept of what Hughes deems important. Art is not easily criticized, one man's masterpiece is often someone else's waste of time, and although I admire Hughes' willingness to put himself on the line time after time, I often disagree with his emphasis. Artists like Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper get their due, but many others like Alexander Calder get a fleeting mention. Sculpture and photography are ignored and architecture is dealt with in huge sections and then forgotten until the next period Hughes feels is worth discussing. Hughes also has the annoying habit of referencing a painting and then not have it shown, an example being the Warhol "Electric Chair" pieces that are not presented although they are discussed in some detail. Hughes' vocabulary will have you reaching for a dictionary at some points and wincing at the use of crude descriptions at others ( "Charles Demuth was not a flaming queen" "Mabel Dodge Luhan ...an intolerable b----) Overall this book frustrates as it educates and the combination is irritating to say the least. It just appears that Hughes has just bitten off more than the reader can chew. While it is a starting point for those of us whose art history is sorely lacking it just doesn't satisfy as a reference work; it is more of a critical review of art in America, not the same thing as a history.

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Summary: AMERICAN VISIONS 4 COLONIAL WAY OF THINKING
Review: In short, Robert Hughes view on Graffiti Art and artist Jean Michel Basquiat in his book American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America are dismissive. first of all, Graffiti Art evolved outside of an art historical context and it wasn't meant to opperate in it. Hughes says Graffiti art was "short lived." After the 80's art world disposed of graffiti as a trend it still existed in urban environments and is now sadly "still" being appropriated by contemporary western artists today.

Hughes calls Basquiat a "Little Black Rimbaud" and speaks of his work as being "visual monotony of arid overstyling." I think Hughes was speaking about how the work didn't address him or include him and therefore he attacks the artist. By making racist comments such as the one mentioned above one has to consider that Hughes is not only wreckless in his writing but racist in intent!

I think time has also proven Robert Hughes incorrect about Jean Michel Basquiat and Graffiti Art.

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Summary: Please!
Review: The first thing to say about this book, and the most important, is that it is a good read. It illuminates its subject matter whereas much writing about art, especially catalogue writing and writing in magazines such as ART FORUM is bad writing. Such bad writing draws attention to itself and is characterised by jargon, obfuscation, and mystification. Mr Hughes is guilty of none of this. Mr Hughes informs elegantly, argues persuasively and entertains amusingly. Art is well served by this elegant and opinionated craftsman. I also admire his tone which seems confidently irreverent. He is a wise debunker without being arrogant. He pays respect where he thinks it is due but refuses to be taken in, unlike me, by the sentimental, overwrought or portentous. As a general reader I found him especially helpful in his analysis of the American icons Andrew Wyeth (whom I'm a sucker for) Thomas Hart Benton, and the illustrator Norman Rockwell. The pre-20th Century sympathetic commentary on such masters as Winslow Homer, whose retrospective at the Metropolitan in New York in 1996 was such a stunning event, is sheer delight to read. But I appreciated too his later chapters on contemporary art where his waggish insights informed by a formidable intelligence and eye never fail to amuse. Brilliant, and such fun! More please.

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Summary: Spectacular book a worthy addition to any collection
Review: This is a book well worthy of your attention if you are interested in the wealth of art that the United States has produced. The images and plates are wonderful, though I feel that the text drags a little and sometimes I feel that Mr Hughes has lost some of his passion for commentary. If you would like a far more informative text about art, and American modern art in particular, check out his earlier and far better work "The Shock of the New".

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Summary: Resonance in American Art
Review: This is an extraordinary book. Robert Hughes combines a receptive eye, historical fact and resonant writing to tell the story of American Art. Hughes' contempory critical faculties guide him through four centuries of art making, avoiding sentiment or patriotism. He feels the tactile and human nature of art deeply. A must have for American Artists.

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Summary: An entertaining exploration and celebration of American Art
Review: Using barrelling, passionate, reckless, witty and poetic prose, Robert Hughes as an author often comes off as drunken and macho new world pirate gleefully beholding a vast store of riches in his exploration of American Art History.

Because American Art is an Epic in the writing (as in fact is all forms of World Art), Hughes does betray an Euro-centric bias and, as a result, slightly overlooks the contribution of many other minority artists to the rich tapestry of American Culture.

That criticism aside, Hughes' passion and devotion to his subject rings true all throughout the entire book, making this a fast and consistently entertaining and educational read. His championing of Hopper, Benton and Pollock as world class visionaries is particularly enlightening (probably because I agree!). Hughes manages to sound scholarly without resorting to dry ivory tower musings. His rants and raves, while maintaining the informed and educated discourse required of a true scholar, also posses the wit and wisdom of skilled stage performer.

Although there are plenty of fine reproductions here, even more would have aided in creating a more complete book. But why quibble? This book is a fine starting out point for anyone interested in reading a fine author's exploration of a rich subject.