Download
1 / 111
1.11k likes | 1.21k Views
Picturing America Review. National Endowment for the Humanities 2010 - 2011. From cylindrical clay jars gracing a 1000 A.D. home to baskets serving a mobile society, everyday objects yield glimpses into America’s past.
E N D
Picturing America Review National Endowment for the Humanities 2010 - 2011
From cylindrical clay jars gracing a 1000 A.D. home to baskets serving a mobile society, • everyday objects yield glimpses into America’s past. • They chart a proud history of craftsmanship and traditions handed down from generation to generation.
The Anasazi, Sikyátki, Pueblo, and Washoe tribes of the American Southwest; South Carolina basket weavers of West African heritage; and coastal Alaskan artisans—all have helped shape America’s rich heritage of handicrafts.
This Catholic mission in San Antonio now stripped to bare stone was originally plastered white and adorned with red, blue, yellow, and black painted designs. It was built to serve as a barrier against French expansion into Texas. Made using local materials and artisans, the stone-faced adobe structure features a floor plan that reflected Catholic traditions.
Various artists (18th century): Spanish Colonial Architecture of the 17th, 18th, and 19th century stretched across America's Spanish southwest. It was an amalgam of Moorish, Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance influences, modified to meet frontier needs.
This portrait, an idealized view of labor consistent with the democratic ideals of the New World, depicts Paul Revere as a working craftsman. • At the time of this portrait Revere was a successful silversmith—not an American hero. • Still, Copley captured the heroic qualities of physical strength, moral certainty, and intelligence that allowed Revere to play a pivotal role in American history.
John Singleton Copley (1738–1815): Born in Boston and largely self-taught, Copley had an extraordinary talent for recording the physical characteristics of his subjects. • This skill made him the foremost colonial artist in America. • Now, more than 200 years later, Copley’s portraits endure as significant works of art because of their reach beyond documentation to depict his subjects’ personality, profession, and social position.
Shiny silver teapots—of different sizes and shapes—reflect the economic climate and political upheaval taking place in the United States during the time of their production. • Once reserved for the 17th-century well to-do, silver wares became available to a larger audience with the opening of silver mines in the West and technological advancements such as electroplating and industrialization.
Various silversmiths (18th, 19th, and 20th centuries): From pre-revolutionary craftsmen to the big-name machine manufacturers of the 20th century, the silver trade remained a thriving business in the United States across three centuries.
Grant Wood's bird's-eye-view of Revere's legendary ride offers a whimsical, child-like interpretation of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's well-known poem. The artist's desire to preserve American folklore was part of his greater scheme to forge a national identity through art and history.
Grant Wood (1892-1942): A trained artist best known for his paintings depicting the American Midwest, Wood emulated the primitive, unschooled style of American folk artists. His work reflects his commitment to a truly American style—one that would link the present to the past and preserve the stories of the country's heritage.
This full-length portrait deftly captures Washington’s role as an orator, leader, and father of his country. Washington’s choice of attire—a plain black suit and no wig—conveys his belief that the United States president was not a king, but a citizen of a land where all men were created equal.
Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828): Stuart learned art abroad in the European tradition, but his style was all his own. Known for his ability to set subjects at ease, he believed inner character was reflected in a person’s physical features. Stuart’s portraits of George Washington, whom he described as a man of great passions, are among his most famous works.
With defeats mounting and morale sinking, George Washington led his army across the icy river on Christmas night, 1776. Emanuel Leutze’s life-sized canvas vividly shows the courage and sacrifice demonstrated by America’s founders during a time when victory and independence were an uncertain conclusion.
Emanuel Leutze (1816-1868): Although this German-born painter immigrated to the United States decades after the Revolutionary War, the democratic ideals of that time inspired his art. • His carefully researched interpretations of historical events won him lucrative private and government commissions, including work displayed in the U.S. Capitol today.
Although it displays clear classical influences in pose and posture, this larger-than-life-sized marble statue of Benjamin Franklin has a naturalistic style. • Hiram Powers’s contemporaries objected to portraying historical figures in contemporary dress, but the sculptor chose to depict the founding father accurately, in a realistic mid-18th century wardrobe—from his tricorne hat to his cotton hose.
Hiram Powers (1805-1873): A highly successful, largely self-taught Neoclassical sculptor, Powers emigrated to Italy to further boost his career in the United States. • His government commissions, influenced by the classical Roman sculptures of Europe, can be found standing in the U.S. Senate and House collections today.
Landscape paintings were especially well-liked in the 19th century, when urban dwellers viewed rural life as a remedy for the problems of industrialization. • Thomas Cole’s split representation of the Connecticut Valley depicts the inherent conflict between wilderness and civilization that characterized westward expansion.
Thomas Cole (1801–1848): As a teenager, Cole immigrated to America from England, and went on to found the National Academy of Design in New York City. • A master of pastoral landscapes, Cole set out to capture the beauty and majesty of rural America in his paintings.
N. C. Wyeth’s romanticized cover illustration for James Fenimore Cooper’s novel The Last of the Mohicans did much to create an enduring image of the American Indian as a “noble savage.” • Though his depiction of Uncas as a formidable warrior—complete with bare chest, animal skin skirt, and bow and arrow—departed from the author’s character description, it remained true to the country’s fascination with its Native American heritage.
N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945): Wyeth was both a realist painter and a highly successful illustrator. • Two trips to the Adirondacks—where he tramped through the woods and cooked over an open fire to get a feel for the wilderness—inspired his cover illustration for the popular book The Last of the Mohicans.
The graceful, bending position of John James Audubon’s flamingo allowed the artist to fit his subject—depicted close to actual size—on a single page. • The silhouette emphasized the elegant curve of the bird’s body and captured its distinctive markings and trademark shade of pink. Audubon’s watercolors serve as an invaluable record of early American wildlife.
John James Audubon (1785–1851): Born in the West Indies, Audubon moved to America at 18 and became the country’s dominant wildlife artist. • A naturalist painter, he showed his subjects—including the monumental Birds of America—in vivid watercolors, much as they would appear alive in their natural habitat.
Catlin painted this portrait from memory, years after becoming friends with the second chief of the Mandan people. • It appears as the title-page illustration of his book about living among the tribes of the Missouri River. Catlin’s manuscript—and some 500 paintings—provide testimony not only to the country’s fascination with American Indians but also to the artist’s ambition to document disappearing frontier cultures.
George Catlin (1796–1872): The self-trained Catlin was a successful portrait painter in Philadelphia. • Intrigued by the North American Indian, he set out on a 2,000-mile journey along the Missouri River (in what is now North Dakota) to create the most thorough visual record of the indigenous cultures of the frontier.
As Americans became more politically active in the mid-1800s, legislators wanted to express their identity in their statehouses. • Like many new state capitol buildings, Ohio’s Greek Revival statehouse recalled the birthplace of democracy. Construction—which took some 20 years to complete—was also rife with politics among competing architects and designers.
Thomas Cole (1801–1848) and others: A landscape painter with no building experience, Cole took third-place in the competition for Ohio’s new state capitol, yet a modified version of his design was chosen one year later. • Cole’s plan called for a compact, rectangular structure with pilasters and a columned porch. Over the years, several architects would also put their imprint on the building.
In this crowded composition, Bingham suggests the inclusiveness of democracy. Young or old, rich or poor, all of the men gathered at the foot of the courthouse on Election Day appeared as equals. • The lack of a single dramatic focus emphasized the ideal that no one vote was worth more than another.
George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879): Known as the “Missouri artist” for the state where he lived and worked, Bingham painted everyday scenes in striking detail. • His realistic style would offer an accurate account of frontier life for generations to come.
This large, panoramic landscape of the Yosemite Valley pulls the viewer into the dramatic scene. Missing in the painting are any people—only a shroud of golden light breaks through the clouds. • In Bierstadt’s scenario, the viewer discovers that before so magnificent a landscape, human beings dwindle to insignificance.
Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902): Born and educated in Germany, Bierstadt was a landscape artist captivated by the majesty of the American West. • His romantic paintings—especially popular with East Coast audiences—helped satisfy Americans’ curiosity about the great frontier.
Black Hawk’s ledger book provides invaluable visual testimony to the nation’s Native American heritage. • His drawings revealed intriguing details of the Lakota people—from manner of dress to social customs. In doing so, he captured a way of life fast disappearing as settlers moved West in increasing numbers and tribes were moved to reservations.
Black Hawk (c. 1832–1890): A spiritual leader of a tribe of Lakota Indians, Black Hawk was asked in 1880 to record the natural world and culture of his people. • His drawings—for which he received 50 cents apiece—followed a long tradition of Plains Indian art that documented history as a memory aid for oral renditions of tribal history. Scholars believe Black Hawk died at Wounded Knee.
