In a companion volume to The Art of Colonial America and The Art of the New American Nation, Shirley Glubok presents American art from the 1820's through the 1860's. Through the eyes of its artists, a young country on its way to power and prosperity comes vividly to life.

The works of Thomas Cole, George Inness and Asher Durand of the Hudson River school celebrate the natural beauty of the land. The excitement of the frontier is reflected in the paintings of Set Eastman, George Catlin and George Caleb Bingham. William Sidney Mount expresses the democratic spirit of the time in Genre paintings of country life.

Sculpture by Hiram Powers and Clark Mills, buildings in the Greek Revival and Gothic revival styles, elegant Empire and Victorian interiors and simple Shaker designs all point up the vitality of the period. And the new art of photography comes into its own with Mathew Brady's great Civil War photographs.

From the dust jacket