From its earliest stirrings as a republic to the information age, America has been a country of triumph and struggle, imagination and innovation. And for nearly three centuries the country's artists, witnesses to the nation's extraordinary arc of development, have created a rich visual record that offers insights into our beginnings and growth as a nation.

America's Art gathers 225 of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's best works, culled from a collection of 40,000 objects. The book broadly sketches periods in America's history—from the colonial period and Revolution through the Civil War, to the Gilded Age, World War II, and modern art—to create a vibrant portrait of creativity, reflection, and celebration.

Download a sample chapter of America's Art (Adobe Acrobat PDF, 5.4 MB).