A history of American art with Waldemar Januszczak
Episode 1 is set in the Wild West and begins with the sublime art of the Hudson River School. The mysterious rock art of the Native Americans is also examined. The film culminates in a celebration of Jackson Pollock.
Episode 2 is set in the American metropolis - the soaring new cities of the East Coast with their futuristic skylines and lofty skyscrapers. Instead of looking up at the futuristic towers, Waldemar explores the squalid boxing rings painted by George Bellows all the way to the harsh immigrant experience of Ellis Island and the profound impact that rootlessness had on the art of Mark Rothko.
Episode 3 looks at America's most controversial cultural territory - the interstitial America of small towns and trailer parks. Waldemar discovers how this much maligned territory had an immensely beneficial impact on American art. From the small town brilliance of Grant Wood to the brilliant assemblages of David Smith, the leading sculptor of abstract expressionism.
