America entered World War I 100 years ago - this art shows what it was like

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WILSON FLOWER%20OF%20DEATH SAAM

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC

"Flower of Death" (1919) by Claggett Wilson

If you think the world is chaotic now, imagine living a century ago in the heights of World War I.

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As we approach the 100-year anniversary of America joining the fray on April 6, 1917, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is holding the first major exhibition on American art and the war (appearing later this year in New York and Nashville).

"The works in WWI and American Art help us see in fresh and unfamiliar ways where we were headed a century ago and, by extension, where we maybe headed today," write curators Robert Cozzolino, Anne Knutson, and David Lubin (this reporter's father).

We've gathered some works from the exhibition below along with insights from the catalog.