Nature has been a primary subject in art since ancient times, and artists throughout the world have long explored the relationship of humans to nature. In the nineteenth century, as America was transformed from a sparsely populated, agrarian society to a largely urban, industrial one, American artists created landscapes that reflected human encroachment on the American wilderness. Some of these images foretold the serious (and as yet unresolved) problem of balancing economic and population growth with preservation, especially in a country once thought to have limitless natural resources.
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