This is a course will introduce students to the unique artistic tradition of the United States from Colonial times to World War II. In addition to studying masterworks by the likes of Copley, Cole, Church, Homer, Sargent, and Hooper, students will engage with issues such as the construction of an American identity, the role of the fine arts in American society, and the tensions of class, gender, race, and ethnicity in American art. As such the course will function as a vibrant retelling of American history as revealed in its visual production.