North and South in the History of American Art

Abstract

IF we compare the general configuration of Eurasia with that of the two Americas we find that the former extends horizontally around the northern hemisphere parallel to the equator, with a variety of peninsulas projecting southward, while the latter stretches crosswise the equator from the northern polar region to the southern. North America indeed does have a certain noticeable tendency to extend around the northern hemisphere like Eurasia. How geology may explain these circumstances does not concern us here, but as a priori conditions they give rise to very interesting questions in our study of the history of art.