(Thematic -U.S.) A Short History of America

Mapmaker: Crumb, R.

(Thematic -U.S.) A Short History of America

1997

  • ~Spring 2019~
  • A Short History Of America

    In the late 19th century, John Gast made the classic image of "American Progress" which has been called the visualization for manifest destiny and the cultural overlay that would redefine the nation. Here, the artist Robert Crumb takes a more objective perspective of a similar approach. In each panel the composition is fixed looking at the same perspective as new development and change re-makes it again, and again. In the first twelve panels we see the arrival of trains, telegraph lines, trolleys, cars, and infrastructure. When this print was first issued in 1979, this is where it stopped.

    For later editions of this work, Crumb adds three more panels that look to the future, where we see "Ecological Disaster", "The Techno Fix", or the "Ecotopian Solution". These last three panels give us a choice as to where we are headed.

    Condition is very good. Size is approximately 20 x 23 (inches)