We think about the city and the country as opposites, but they have more to do with one another than you would expect.
Browse content
We're adding new content all the time!
Mies in Manhattan, mid-fifties modern: The Seagram Building
An International Style gem on Park Avenue
A modern gem, the Reliance Building
How Chicago architecture sprung up thanks to new technology at the turn of the century
Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket
A critic accused Whistler of “flinging paint at the public” when he saw this painting, so Whistler sued him.
Science, religion, and politics:
Church’s Cotopaxi
The natural world and political metaphor, Church's Cotopaxi
A Memphis juke joint
This swaying juke joint belies its purpose as the central meeting place enlivened by music and dance in many African American communities, but its jubilance is tempered by the painting's ominous atmosphere
Public art, politics, and the banishing of Civic Virtue
How a statue representing well-functioning government ended up in a cemetery
Soaring upward, Louis Sullivan and the invention of the skyscraper
A miracle on Bleecker Street, ornament, invention, and one of the great early skyscrapers
Before Penn Station, Bellows & old NYC
The awesome beauty of a large hole in the earth, dug to bring railroads to Manhattan.
Browse Smarthistory images for teaching & learning!
