Early in the 20th Century, the divide between classically trained traditionalist painters and early proponents of modernism became a gaping chasm. After the famous New York Armory Show of 1913, which introduced Post-Impressionism, Cubism and Futurism to a wider American audience, the world of American art would never be the same. Although the majority of art collectors still prefer to purchase objective, representational art by contemporary artists who have been influenced by artists and movements of the 19th century, proponents of modernism still dominate the arenas of academia, the media and the highest peaks of the contemporary art market. Gradually, the modernists won the struggle over the direction of American Art that broke out early in the 20th Century and most of the remaining traditionalists ended their careers in obscurity.

      Because advocates of modernism soon came to dominate academia, the opinions of traditionalist painters and critics were seldom heard. For decades, students taking survey courses in art history have only heard one side of the struggle over the course of art. Traditional painters of the late-19th or early-20th century are likely to serve as a foil for artists whom art historians consider more progressive - if they are mentioned at all.

     The late-19th and early-20th century is actually a much richer period of art history than the simple struggle that it has been reduced to. Now, in order to throw light on the neglected side of the fin-de-siecle culture war, the student or art historian has to go back and read texts from the era and the few contemporary books that more fully illuminate the art of the period. In this section we cover books by and about four influential traditionalist critics: Kenyon Cox, Frank Jewett Mather, Royal Cortissoz and F.W. Ruckstall.