Alan Gussow (1931-1997) was at the forefront of a generation of American artists who extended the reach of abstract expressionism through an inventive blend of abstraction and realism. The youngest American to win the Prix de Rome, his career spanned nearly 50 years. Gussow's work is consistently provocative, poetic and profound; an art of international consequence ripe with cultural and environmental insights rooted in a beautifully refined aesthetic vision. This volume, with detailed text by Martica Sawin and more than 250 colour plates, surveys Gussow's career, considers his most important works and includes many oils, pastels and watercolours published for the first time. Sawin, a noted art historian and close friend of Gussow's, is uniquely positioned to illuminate his life not only as an artist, but as an environmentalist, curator, essayist, teacher and political activist.