A stunning survey of the indigenous art, architecture, and spiritual beliefs of the Americas, from the Precolumbian era to the 20th century

"Showcasing a host of previously unpublished objects dating from the Precolumbian era to the twentieth century, [this] book marks the first time these holdings [in the Art Institute of Chicago] have been comprehensively documented. Richard Townsend and Elizabeth Pope weave an overarching narrative that ranges from the midwestern United States to the Yucataan Peninsula to the heart of South America. While exploring artists' myriad economic, historical, linguistic, and social backgrounds, the authors demonstrate that they shared both a deep, underlying cosmological view and the desire to secure their communities' prosperity by affirming connections to the sacred forces of the natural world"--