City and country – Smarthistory

We think about the city and the country as opposites, but they have more to do with one another than you would expect.

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Gashes in the land and a scarecrow crucifix speak to the environmental crisis of the Dust Bowl

This early skyscraper stretches the limits of how tall a brick building could be

This life-size painting of a wild turkey is a copy of the first page in Audubon's famous book Birds of America

The American Dream is not what it seems in this artwork that combines painting and collage

A plaster cast of a manhole cover from the streets of Manhattan is a testament to this artist's experimental use of materials

Stripes of industrial spray paint on this canvas recall the industrial city and undersides of highways

A dream-like flooded landscape—does is suggest bleakness or hope?

This vertical landscape of Virginia recalls ancient Roman architecture, tying the American republic to Rome's

An International Style gem on Park Avenue

How Chicago architecture sprung up thanks to new technology at the turn of the century

A critic accused Whistler of “flinging paint at the public” when he saw this painting, so Whistler sued him.

The natural world and political metaphor, Church's Cotopaxi

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