Generations of Indigenous artists have sought to make a place for Native art in North American culture and society as well as the broader art world. Written at the intersection of history and art history, Painting Native America tells the social history of Indigenous artists and their experiences as they negotiate such questions as how to use art for social and political goals, what constitutes "Indian art," and how to make a living as an artist, showing how each generation's approach to these issues in the twentieth century was shaped by previous struggles. Nicolas G. Rosenthal demonstrates that by exhibiting their paintings in museums, galleries, and public spaces, Native American artists rewrote dominant narratives of North American history, foregrounding Native perspectives while indigenizing the art world.

Featuring seventy color illustrations, Painting Native America examines generations of American Indian and First Nations painters, including Oscar Howe, Pablita Velarde, Allan Houser, Woody Crumbo, T. C. Cannon, Fritz Scholder, Frank LaPena, Jean LaMarr and others. Rosenthal situates Indigenous artists in twentieth-century modernity, attesting to the dynamism of survivance and the cultural and visual sovereignty practiced by these artists. Rosenthal also provides one of the first social and urban histories of Indigenous artists and art scenes in the North American West and examines the origins of the regional art scenes these artists created in Oklahoma, New Mexico, California, and British Columbia.