A Companion to American Art presents 35 newly-commissioned essays by leading scholars that explore the methodology, historiography, and current state of the field of American art history.

• Features contributions from a balance of established and emerging scholars, art and architectural historians, and other specialists
• Includes several paired essays to emphasize dialogue and debate between scholars on important contemporary issues in American art history
• Examines topics such as the methodological stakes in the writing of American art history, changing ideas about what constitutes “Americanness,” and the relationship of art to public culture
• Offers a fascinating portrait of the evolution and current state of the field of American art history and suggests future directions of scholarship

John Davis is Alice Pratt Brown Professor of Art at Smith College. His most recent book (co-authored with Sarah Burns) is American Art to 1900: A Documentary History (2009).

Jennifer A. Greenhill is Associate Professor of Art History, Criticism and Interpretive Theory at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is the author of Playing It Straight: Art and Humor in the Gilded Age (2012).

Jason D. LaFountain is Instructor in the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.