American Art Second Exam Fall 2023 PDF

Genre Painting Represented scenes of everyday life Appealed to a middle class audience who would have understood the value of hard work Facilitated by the spread of gift books, magazines, and Currier and Ives prints Influence of the American Art Union  Richard Caton Woodville, Wa...

Genre Painting Represented scenes of everyday life Appealed to a middle class audience who would have understood the value of hard work Facilitated by the spread of gift books, magazines, and Currier and Ives prints Influence of the American Art Union  Richard Caton Woodville, War News From Mexico, 1848 Exhibited at the American Art Union in 1849  There were often humorous illustrations of class status or newly immigrant Americans in genre scene paintings but they also betrayed, in equal measure, social anxiety about a shifting demography in a new political environment. There are African-American figures in the painting but they are pushed to the border, outside the framing beams of the hotel’s portico— a seated man in a bright orange shirt and a child wearing a tattered white dress. They look on from the bottom right, at the foot of the steps, but their facial expressions seem to register only weariness or perhaps resignation. The question as to whether the new territories would be slave states or free ones was hotly debated—some saw the war as extending the institution of slavery—and Caton Woodville nods to this larger political reality.  “Paintingof familiar subjects has the advantage over writing, by addressing itself to those who can not read or write of any nation whatever. It is not necessary for one to be gifted in languages to understand a painting if the story is well told. It speaks all languages—is understood by the illiterate and enjoyed still more by the learned.” William Sydney Mount, Speech for the National Academy of Design, 1861  Though a renowned painter of genre scenes, William Sidney Mount had initially set out to be a history painter like Benjamin West. Mount was born into a wealthy land-owning family in Long Island in 1807. When his father died seven years later, Mount was sent to live with his uncle, Micah Hawkins, a successful wholesale grocer. At seventeen, Mount was an apprentice to his brother Henry, a sign painter. He took drawing courses at the National Academy of Design in New York, where he learned to appreciate the work of the Masters of European art and acquired an appreciation of landscapes and history painting.  The proliferation of caricatures of the Yankee farmer after the election of Jackson in 1828 must have struck a chord with Mount, for he began a series of images of this much maligned character. In the nineteenth century, the term “horse-trading” was often a colloquialism for back-room political deals. William Sydney Mount, Bargaining for a Horse, 1835  It is likely that someone is going to be short-changed for the horse, but such is the nature of the comedy and the satisfaction within the audience’s suspense. This was commissioned by Luman Reed, the self made merchant who had commissioned The Course of Empire. This painting refers directly to slavery and the abolitionist movement through the gesture of “ear tickling.” William Sydney Mount, Farmer’s Nooning, 1836 In the nineteenth century, the term “horse-trading” was often a colloquialism for back-room political deals. William Sydney Mount, Bargaining for a Horse, 1835 William Henry Harrison’s slogan in the presidential election was “log cabin and hard cider.”  Some of the Whig rallies, with banners unfurled, drew an estimated 100,000 people, perhaps attracted by the seemingly endless supplies of hard cider. It mattered little to most partisans that the “common man” image concocted for Harrison was false. The log cabin was used to represent Harrison’s “poor” and “humble” background. His background was neither; rather, he was born in a mansion on a Virginia plantation and lived in a fancy house in Indiana when nominated for the presidency. Regardless of the truth, the imagery and the hard cider that was distributed at the gigantic rallies undoubtedly excited voters and boosted the Harrison campaign.  His patron was a well-known Whig sympathizer This was intended to be a clear political comment on the 1840 election of William Henry Harrison. William Sydney Mount, Cider Making, 1841  George Caleb Bingham was the first American genre painter to depict the West. Bingham presented the West not as a great expanse of remote, inaccessible prairies envisioned by Northeastern commentators, but as a potential territory connected to the East by rivers Missouri had been prominent in national politics and economic life. Missouri farmers sent wheat and corn on the Mississippi to New Orleans where it was shipped to Northeastern and mid-Atlantic seaports. Bingham was also active in politics who won a seat in the Missouri state legislature. Bingham depicts a way of life that was quickly disappearing. George Caleb Bingham, Fur Trader Descending the Missouri, 1845  Boats on which rivermen worked took raw materials and produce downstream to markets along the vast river interior networks Although the steamboat became a faster form of transportation after 1825, flatboats continued to be used until the 1840s. Boatmen had a reputation of roughhousing, drunkenness , and carefree idleness on the job Bingham’s young men are not disreputable He painted at least 12 variations of boatmen  The boatmen pictures were intended for an Eastern audience and were intended as an antidote to the idea that boatmen were raucous and lazy. George Caleb Bingham, Raftsman Playing Cards, 1847  Bingham was also a politician and he did a series highlighting the corruption of the voting process. George Caleb Bingham, The County Election, 1851  “Sir, shall this trade in human flesh be permitted to continue in the very heart of the Republic? Is merchandise to be made of men within sight of the Capitol in which their Representatives are assembled...? Rep. William Slade of Vermont, 1836 Both opponents and proponents of slavery felt vindicated by this work. Johnson studied in Dusseldorf and Paris, and had traveled in Holland. He was very familiar with Dutch genre painting. Eastman Johnson, Negro Life in the South, 1859  Enraptured critics reacted as if they had never previously been presented with an image of slavery, although the popular press had featured lithographs and engravings. What was novel was that Johnson had elevated the subject to the format of an ambitious salon painting and had treated his composition with academic skill reflecting his training in Dusseldorf and Paris.  In the lifetime between the ratification of the Constitution and the secession of the Confederacy, enslavers moved more than a million enslaved African Americans to cotton-growing areas taken by the new nation from their original inhabitants. Forced migrations and stolen labor yielded an astonishing increase in cotton production: from 1.2 million pounds in 1790 to 2.1 billion in 1859, and an incredible dominance over the international market—by the 1830s, 80% of the cotton used by the British textile industry came from the southern U.S. Johnson was one of the few artists who explored the issue of slavery during the Civil War. Eastman Johnson, The Lord is my Shepherd, 1863  Trying to escape was terrifying and often unsuccessful. Eastman Johnson, A Ride for Liberty -- The Fugitive Slaves, c. 1862  In A Ride for Liberty, Johnson recreates an event commonly seen during the American Civil War, that of slaves crossing battlefields from the Confederate South to the Union North in order to escape the horrors of their bondage. In this painting, Johnson depicts three African Americans—presumably a family consisting of a father, mother, and small child— on horseback. The horse gallops from right to left across the nearly barren battlefield. Each family member looks in a different direction. The father, ahead to the promise of the future, the wife looks back to the hardships of the past, while the child stares downwards at the excitement of the present. Interest in nostalgia after the Civil War Eastman Johnson, The Old Stage Coach, 1871  The extraordinary career of Lilly Martin Spencer stands alone in the middle decades of the 19th century. She painted for more than 60 years, and in her heyday was the only woman to achieve viability as a professional painter in the art capital of New York. She was the primary means of support for her family of eight children and her husband. She gained national recognition with this image. Lily Martin Spencer, Shake Hands, 1854 Despite her popularity, male critics disparaged her work. Lilly Martin Spencer, Kiss Me and You’ll Kiss the ‘Lasses, 1856 Leutze's depiction of Washington's attack on the Hessians at Trenton on December 25, 1776, was a great success in America and in Germany. This was not about history, but instead about mythology. Washington had become a “cult figure.” Emmanuel Leutze, Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851 Neo-classical sculpture She is absolved from responsibility for her downfall. Powers was particularly aware of the highly charged mixture of curiosity and suspicion that accompanied ay public display evoking erotic or sensual associations. This work was shown in Europe and American and cemented his reputation. Powers was an ex-patriot who lived in Florence. Hiram Powers, The Greek Slave, 1843 When Powers sent this on a tour of American cities it was accompanied by texts that would instruct and direct the viewer’s gaze. Palmer was not classically trained and unlike many of his contemporaries he did not go to Europe. Erastus Dow Palmer, The White Captive, 1857  "The White Captive" portrays a youthful female figure who has been abducted from her sleep and held captive by savage Indians. Hands bound, and stripped of a nightgown hanging from a tree trunk, she turns her head away from the terror, and clenches her left first, in defiance of imminent harm. Palmer avoided the often cold appearance of Italianate neoclassical sculpture, in part by using for his model a local girl. Palmer was particularly commended for his use of a "thoroughly American" subject that makes a conscious allusion to the endless skirmishes between the Native Americans and the white pioneers. It is these naturalistic and individualizing qualities that have, down through the years, earned such praise for Palmer's sculpture. Lewis was part Native American and part African-American. She turned her attention to the struggles of African Americans. Lewis moves to Europe where she could much more easily practice her art away from the discrimination she experienced in America. Edmonia Lewis, Forever Free, 1867 Thomas Crawford, The Progress of Civilization, 1853-63 U.S. Capitol  The center figure is America, who stands with an eagle at her side and the sun at her back. On the right, a woodsman, hunter, Indian chief, Indian mother and child, and Indian grave represent the early days of America. On the left the diversity of human endeavor is suggested by the soldier, the merchant, the two youths, the schoolmaster and child, and the mechanic. Completing this side of the tympanum are sheaves of wheat, symbolic of fertility, and an anchor, symbolic of hope; these elements are in contrast with the grave at the opposite end of the tympanum. Hosmer was one of several woman sculptors working in Rome who were extremely successful. Harriet Hosmer, Beatrice Cenci, 1857  This story was published throughout the 19th century as a sensational tale of extreme emotions, but Hosmer has cast it instead as a narrative of female piety and family justice, the triumph of a woman over wrongs inflicted by a man.  The Ecole des Beaux Arts was established in 1814 as part of the French Academy of Fine Arts in order to train exceptional students in life drawing, painting, sculpture, engraving and architecture. The curriculum of the school was divided into the 'Academy of Painting and Sculpture' and the 'Academy of Architecture'. Both schools promoted conservative classical arts and architectural design based on the antique canons formulated in ancient Rome and Greece. As in the Italian academies of the 16th century, all students at the Ecole des Beaux Arts were obliged to perfect their drawing skills before progressing to figure drawing and eventually painting. By the late 19th century and early 20th century - with the advent of modern art movements like Impressionism, Expressionism, Fauvism and Cubism - the school was seen as far too rigid in its aesthetics. Academic Art History paintings include classical, religious, mythological, allegorical subjects Everything else underneath including portraits, still life, landscape, and genre pictures.  Academie Julian Original intent was to allow students to work from the living model while preparing for Ecole exams School expanded in the 1870s, eventually becoming the alternative and competitor to the Ecole Classes held in studios throughout Paris Women admitted, but were charged higher fees Favored by American students Lots of shenanigans  The Paris Salon was the yearly, state sponsored art exhibition. It was juried, and typically included traditional, academic works of art. It was a huge public event, and inclusion in the Salon could make or break the career of an artist.  Eakins fails the examination to matriculate into the Ecole and never shows works at the Salon. However, his admission to the atelier of Gerome opened the doors for several other Americans. He spends his last six months in Europe traveling in Spain, and returns to Philadelphia. Realism The style emerged partly in response to the social and economic consequences of industrialism and partly as an expression of discontent with contemporary political and economic climate. Realist artists had a profound sense of social consciousness and a commitment to contemporary problems of class and gender. Unlike the romantics, who felt alienated from society and often sought refuge from the oppressive materialism of the modern world, realists saw themselves as part of the modern world.  This was Eakins professional debut in America On his return from Europe Eakins is looking for subjects that reflect life in Philadelphia. Thomas Eakins, The Champion Single Sculls, 1871  Centennial Exhibition opened in Philadelphia in the spring of 1876. It celebrated the 100th anniversary of American independence, the country’s emergence from Reconstruction, and the success of science, industry, and cultural exchange. It was a visual extravaganza, including such different elements as the giant Corliss steam engine, and the arts building from Japan. States and nations were represented in more than 30,000 displays and at least a quarter of them belonged to the U.S. It was the first time European art was seen in America on a large-scale basis. “It was one of the most life-like and powerful pictures to be seen in Although Dr. Gross was a the Exhibition, and hero of modern medicine should have had a in Philadelphia, this work place in the Art Gallery, is rejected from the art where it would have section of the Centennial been but for an Exhibition because it was incomprehensible considered too gory. In it, decision of the Eakins creates an entire Selecting Committee.” new genre of painting. He was obsessed with the human body. Thomas Eakins, The Gross Clinic, 1875  This i This is not just a genre scene but a figure study. Thomas Eakins, The Swimming Hole, 1885  Eakins began teaching at the Pennsylvania Academy in the late 1870s. In 1882 Eakins is made director of the Pennsylvania Academy. Within two months an angry mother writes to the Academy of protest the use of nude models in Eakins’s life classes. However, he completely overhauled the curriculum to create what he perceived as a new, modern academy.  In the 1880s, Eakins’ interest in realism brought him in contact with the photographer Edward Muybridge. The two collaborated on photographing the movement of animals and humans. Though few painters took it seriously, Eakins believed the new photographic technology was a tool to better represent the physical world.  Eakins is obsessed with the human body Circle of Thomas Eakins, Naked Series: Thomas Eakins, c. 1883  Eakins' teaching ideas led to a much greater emphasis on the study of human anatomy, including dissections of animals and human cadavers and increased emphasis on the nude model. In turn, he de-emphasized the study of the antique casts, encouraging students to work directly from a figure. Eakins also introduced a sculpture class in modeling the body from life, a practice that heretofore had not existed in American art schools. Eakins was dismissed from the faculty in 1886 for his over- emphasis on the use of the nude. However, many of the Eakins-era curriculum innovations remained part of the school program after his departure. The painting is of his wife in the interior of their home. Painted with a brutal honesty. Thomas Eakins, Lady With a Setter Dog, 1884-89  Deeply affected by his dismissal from the Academy, Eakins's later career focused on portraiture. His steadfast insistence on his own vision of realism, in addition to his notoriety from his school scandals, combined to impact his income negatively in later years. Even as he approached these portraits with the skill of a highly trained anatomist, what is most noteworthy is the intense psychological presence of his sitters. However, it was precisely for this reason that his portraits were often rejected by the sitters or their families. As a result, Eakins came to rely on his friends and family members to model for portraits.  Winslow Homer begins his career as a lithographer before becoming a painter. He is embedded with the Northern troops during the Civil War.  Homer was a correspondent for Harper’s Weekly embedded with the Union troops. He did not get to choose his subjects. Winslow Homer, A War for the Union, Harper’s Weekly, 1862  First Civil War picture. He has little training in painting. Homer valorized the common soldier and did not paint actual battle scenes. The Civil War was being documented through photographs. Winslow Homer, Sharpshooter, 1863 The painting is full of symbolism referencing the Civil War and the death of Lincoln Wheat was a funerary symbol and many of the most bloody battles of the war fought in wheat fields. Winslow Homer, Veteran in a New Field, 1865 One of Homer’s best known Civil War pictures. It personifies the schism between the North and the South. Winslow Homer, Prisoners From the Front, 1866  Homer goes to the South after the Civil War. He is one of few painters who portray African- Americans. Although the war was over, conditions for African- Americans remained intolerable. Winsow Homer, A Visit From the Old Mistress, 1876 Cotton was still the major source of employment for African Americans after the Civil War. Winslow Homer, The Cotton Pickers, 1876 No attempt to record portraits as a way to memorialize the children. Themes of leisure and nostalgia become important to him in the 1870s. Winslow Homer, Snap the Whip, 1876 Homer is one of the great watercolorists of the late 19th century. He goes to a fishing village in North England for two years and his often focuses on the women in the village. Winslow Homer, Fisherwives at Cullercoats, c. 1881  Homer goes to England between between 1881-2 and moves from New York to Prout’s Neck, Maine in 1883. Watercolors begin to play an increasing role in his work One of the most unusual pictures of the 19th century and was a transitional masterpiece. Winslow Homer, The Life Line, 1883  Threats of shipwrecks were constant Men who worked this buoy worked in specifically trained brigades and were considered heroes He saw this equipment first used in England The man cannot look at her body Both men and women together Work was critically acclaimed Homer was interested in Japanese woodblock prints. Winslow Homer, Life Size Black Bass, 1904  The hunter is now the hunted Winslow Homer, The Fox Hunt, 1893 Hiroshige, Owl on a Maple Branch, c. 1832 Homer spends the latter part of his life living in Maine and painting the ocean. Winslow Homer, The Northeaster, 1895 The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and stretches to the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Winslow Homer, The Gulf Stream, 1899  It became fashionable to collect European art; hardly any dealers sold American art at this time. It has been estimated that over 1800 American students were in Paris post-Civil War. As the novelist Henry James observed in the 1880s, “When we look for American art we find it mainly in Paris. When we find it out of Paris, we find a great deal of Paris in it.”  John Singer Sargent Born in Florence of American parents Part of the expatriate generation obsessed with things European. Until he was 18 Sargent lived all over Europe. He spoke four languages, played piano, and acquired a passion for art and architecture. His mother was an accomplished watercolorist who encouraged her son to paint and draw from a young age. In a life of constant travel, it was familial relationships that mattered most to Sargent. He and his sister Emily were constant companions. Sargent’s private papers were destroyed. One of the most famous physicians and “playboy” single men of this period in France. Sargent does not paint him as a physician. Jphn Singer Sargent, Dr. Samuel Pozzi, 1881 She was referred to as “black as spades and white as milk.” Madame Gautreau was an American ex-patriot who was considered a great beauty. She agreed to let Sargent paint her, but this was NOT a commission. Sargent, Madame X, 1884 From the start of his career, Sargent demonstrated a determination to get to the top of his profession, and on his own terms. The arena in which Sargent set out to prove himself was the Paris Salon. He was seen to be an innovator challenging the orthodoxy of conventional representation, and he was often accused of turning his back on what was beautiful to portray what was sensational and outlandish. The negative reaction to this painting ended his career in France. He moved to London, and became one of the most sought after portrait painters both in Europe and American during the late 19th century. Sargent, Madame X, 1884 Shocking!!!! Sargent’s vision for these portraits was most unusual. Seen as a Velazquez come to life. Sargent, Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, 1882  Edward Boit was an artist and friend of Sargent’s. We do not know if he commissioned the painting, but he did end up buying the painting. When Sargent first moves to England he paints in an Impressionist style. He helps to bring Impressionism to England. Sargent, Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, 1885-6 The picture, painted entirely out of doors, conveys to the spectator the vivid sense of being present at the event in which light is the palpable essence. This was his first major success at the Royal Academy.  One of Sargent’s most importa patrons was Isabelle Stewart G John Singer Sargent, Isabella Stewart Gardner,1888  Isabella Stewart Gardner had a taste for the flamboyant, although at the time Sargent painted her she had not yet begun the magnificent art collection for which she is best known. Mrs. Gardner was not known for her beauty. A society columnist remarked that she was “plain and widemouthed,” but had the handsomest neck, shoulders and arms in all of Boston.” John Singer Sargent, Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, 1893  Worked with watercolors from the time he was a child Did not exhibit them until later in his career Went to Venice almost every year after 1900 Did sketches from the gondolas Sargent was one of the great watercolorists in the history of American art. John Singer Sargent, Venetian Canal, c.1909