Taking the vast geography and staggering cultural diversity of the North and South American continents as its starting point, this far-ranging overview introduces the ways in which American art has been shaped both by its encounters with cultures around the globe and by its own past, from the ancient and native populations that first inhabited these territories to the European, Asian, Scandinavian, and Latino émigrés who settled here. Discussing over 200 artworks—incense burners, painted drinking vessels, and some of this country's most celebrated paintings and sculptures—this book also encompasses purely invented visions of Asia and the Islamic world.