The television incarnation of Robert Hughes' American Visions is a vivid, exuberant tour of 400 years of American visual culture, in the same vein as Hughes' 1981 series on modern art, The Shock of the New. The new series, a co-production of the BBC and Time Inc., in conjunction with New York City's Thirteen/WNET, is being aired in two-hour segments on four successive Wednesdays from May 28 to June 18 (check local listings for times). Herewith a summary of the episodes:
EPISODE 1, MAY 28 THE REPUBLIC OF VIRTUE
Hughes begins his series by examining how the brand-new United States sought...