In this volume Edward Lucie-Smith explores the magnetic poles of post-War modernism, with its figurehead in Europe of Pablo Picasso, and emerging creators in the USA led by Jackson Pollock and others in Abstract Expressionism. The author sets the mutual roots in Surrealism and reflects on the survival of the French artists during the Occupation. He traces Pollock's lasting effect to the later cycles American Pop. Additional essays include Rothko at the Tate, Public Art and Modern Society, The Artist and the Artwork and the extensive study Magical Thinking, which traces the roots of contemporary art from 19th century movements of Impressionism and Symbolism, leasing to Surrealism and post-War Abstract Expressionism to assess state of art in the present day.