"David Sylvester was one of the world's finest writers on modern art. From the decades after 1945, he proved himself to be a true and dedicated champion of new painting and sculpture. With his expertise, sympathy, and provocative style, Sylvester was unique in his ability to talk freely with influential artists. This book includes 21 interviews - recorded over the past forty years - with leading American artists. Together they chronicle and illuminate all the great developments in American art of the twentieth century. Here are the views of David Smith, Richard Serra, Willem de Kooning, Barnett Newman, Franz Kline, Philip Guston, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, Claes Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, Helen Frankenthaler, Louise Nevelson, and more."--BOOK JACKET.