Artists have long been inspired to capture the heroism, tragedy, ideals, suffering, and destruction of war. Whether through painting and sculpture, or television and film, their images have a lasting impact on how people understand and remember war. The images of 19th-century artists who portrayed the Civil War and Indian Wars helped to create an American memory of those wars. Their art helped to shape American culture and identity.

Several prominent artists, including Edmonia Lewis and Winslow Homer, created paintings and sculptures that depicted the ideologies and realities that underpinned the Civil War. Violent conflicts in the West between Native American peoples, who desperately attempted to maintain their cultural integrity, and American settlers resulted from the nation's belief that its "manifest destiny" was to dominate the continent. Prominent artists who have depicted this cultural conflict include...