Dec 25, 2009

The Cantos | Compare and Contrast

1920s: The United States, fresh from its success in World War I, enjoys the ''Roaring Twenties,'' a period of economic expansion and artistic experimentation. Many prominent American artists and writers, though, are living in Paris, fleeing what they see as American bourgeois provincialism.

1990s: The United States enjoys an unprecedented period of economic expansion and the creation of wealth. During these years, however, many experimental artists find themselves in conflict with conservative American values. Such artists as Robert Mapplethorpe, Karen Finley, Andres...