The period covered in this book is best understood divided roughly into two parts: 1860 to 1910 and 1910 to 1945. Between 1860 and 1910, the predominant theme is the increased number of Americans who traveled to Europe for instruction, resulting in an explosion of transplanted techniques. The lessons they learned there were often recombined in unique ways as they developed their own styles. We know about their approaches from letters, diaries, colormen's catalogues, books, and other printed sources.

The following period, from 1910 to 1945, saw a much greater increase in books and other printed sources of information. It was marked by a fundamental change in the attitudes of painters toward their materials. Artists began to turn away from commercially made products and began once again to make their own media and grounds from raw materials. Because of the explosion of information in the twentieth century, the authors moved away from devoting chapters to individual artists and instead included short sections on techniques of many different artists, interwoven with discussions of more general topics. An epilogue summarizes the lessons American painters' experiences over 250 years can hold for contemporary artists interested in the long-term preservation of their paintings.