How does art ‘over the pond’ compare to that produced on this continent? There are comparable spaces to put on exhibitions, the Tate Modern and the Louvre against the Guggenheim and the MoMA. They have a well of talent to draw on that is comparable in population size. Maybe what they don’t have is the sheer volume of art history that existed in Europe over the last how ever many centuries (Native American art notwithstanding). This disparity in deep-rooted cultural heritage is no better exemplified than the following exchange overheard during a tour of King’s College in Cambridge:

Female tourist (in heavy Texan drawl): Wow, this college is beautiful. Are the buildings pre-war?

Porter (in a voice laced with sarcasm, but as polite as his bowler hat): Madam, this college is pre-America.

In a country where little stands that is more than two hundred years old, how can American art compare to that of Europe, where artists are surrounded by beautiful buildings, such as those in Paris, Florence or Rome? Maybe this explains why it was American artists that drove the art movement in this century. Warhol and Lichtenstein were the innovators, others followed (this interesting comparison actually contends that Pop Art started in the UK). They had no heritage to draw on, so invented their own movement, and in doing so possibly shifted the balance to the New World.

Compare the two interpretations of the same subject - A Man Alone in a Hotel Room by American artist Hopper (left) and German Beckmann (right)

Artland takes a detailed look at the state of American art, trawling the country for the contemporary proponents, visiting those at the cutting edge, and assessing the landscape that has shaped the artistic movements of the United States.

Jake Biddington draws a compelling comparison, contending that early American artists were simply observational, producing simple portraits or still lifes. Those that wanted to paint historical paintings like Benjamin West had to go to Europe. Biddington sums it up nicely, ‘With American art, what-you-see-is-what-you-get. With European art, a cigar is much more than a cigar.’