Ralston Crawford has been most closely identified with Precisionism. His Paintings of the thirties rank among the best produced by any of the Precisionists. Yet his Precisionist painting occupied him for less than ten years. By 1944 his art had undergone a profound shift and expansion of style and range of feeling, and his work in painting, lithography, drawing, watercolor, etching, photography, motion pictures and sound recording extended for more than thirty years until his death in the spring of 1978.

This volume is concerned primarily with Crawford's paintings and in addition to Agee's extensive essay there are numerous excerpts from the painter's journals and letters. A bibliography, chronology, exhibition history and a listing of the artist's paintings in public collections are included.