The so called Gilded Age in American history, was one of enormous industrial, urban and agricultural growth… one which saw a previously sleepy nation step forth as a major player on the world stage. The name for the era, coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873), made reference to the process of coating cheap metal in a thin layer of gold… effectively making something cheap look more desirable. The term was a humorous jab at an era where many people complained of wildly ostentatious displays of wealth, crass manners, political corruption, and often shoddy ethics. But, for all its shortcomings it was an extremely exciting time, and artist Eric Rosner knows it. [Read more...]