American Art
Colonial America – Early 1900s
Colonial Era 1600-1800
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In the beginning focus was on navigation and exploration.
Jamestown, 1607
English trying to catch up with Spain and France. Was known as
the first English success.
John Smith
Plymouth, 1620
Mayflower Compact
Mass Bay, 1630
The Enlightenment, 1695
The Great Awakening, 1739
George Washington
1st Congress
Bill of Rights
Jeremiah Theus, Mrs. Thomas
Lynch,1755, Oil
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Portrait painting
Dressed in upper class
gown, with pined flower.
Swiss immigrant made a
thriving thirty-year career
as a portrait painter in
cosmopolitan Charleston,
South Carolina.
Joseph Blackburn, Elizabeth Browne Rogers,
1761, Oil on canvas, 50 x 40"
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The sitter, Elizabeth
Browne, was the
daughter of the
Anglican rector of
Portsmouth, New
Hampshire.
Most likely painted on
the occasion of her
marriage.
John Singleton Copley, John Spooner,1763
Oil on canvas
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The rise of the Americana
movement after World
War I secured Copley's
reputation as the premier
colonial portrait painter
Traditional Portrait for
1763
Charles Willson Peale, Mr. and Mrs.
Alexander Robinson, 1795, Oil
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As the paterfamilias of the
most important family of
painters in American history,
Peale guaranteed his
reputation through his progeny
as well as in his contributions
to the natural sciences and the
founding of the first public
museum in the United States.
The sitters are the artist's
daughter and her husband.
Jacksonian Era 1800-1875
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At the beginning of this era the nation was only 25 years
old
Lewis and Clark expedition (1804-06) – they went to
learn about natural life, map the area negotiate with
native Americans, and find a North West Passage.
The war of 1812 happened during this era
Market Revolution (1815-40)
Second Great Awakening (1825-40)
Trail of Tears (1832-38)
Move to the Civil War – tension growing between North
and South
Romantic Landscape and Hudson River School
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Hudson River school- a group of landscape painters
of the Hudson River Valley
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Sublime Tradition- the wild landscapes, seeking to
show the vastness of nature and to be awed by its
beauty. To make humans feel small when confronted
with the powerful landscape.
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Lyrical Tradition- more domestic landscapes
Thomas Doughty, In Natures Wonderland,
1835, oil
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Example of the sublime
tradition
A small person in this
vast and beautiful
landscape.
Doughty was born in
Philadelphia, a self-taught
artist, and one of the
earliest American career
Landscape artists.
John Frederick Kensett, Niagara Falls, 1855,
oil
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Example of Luminism, a
style of art indigenous to
America where
landscapes were
rendered through
saturated light
Kensett started as an
engraver, then he worked
8 years in Europe which
influenced his style.
Kensett paints thinly with
a muted palette.
Frederic E. Church, Cotopax, 1862, oil
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Example of Epic
Landscape, a movement
that expanded the
sublime tradition to
include the idea of
Manifest Destiny.
Church was one of the
most successful painters
in American history, the
new world was a great
place for him to paint
scenic art
George Inness, Coming Storm, 1878, oil
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New Landscape Style was
not just vast expanses of
wilderness, but instead
showed settle and
cultivated landscapes
See how the farms are
nestled in the landscape,
the smoke from the
chimneys mixing with the
clouds
William Sidney Mount, Farmers, 1836, oil
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Genre Painting, shows
everyday life of average
working class.
Genre became popular
because of publication
and illustrations in
magazines.
George Catlin, Buffalo Chase with bows
and lances, 1832-1833, oil
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Paintings from the west,
show not only the terrain
and landscape, but also
the Indian life
George Catlin painted
mostly Indian portraits
and showed the native
American culture
Emanuel Leutze, Washington Crossing the
Delaware, 1851, oil
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Historical paintings
During the Jacksonian era
historical paintings had
strong government
support
Leutze style was a more
contemporary kind of
historical painting, which
strove to show individual
points in history that had
national significance
The Gilded Age: 1878 -1900
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This period was marked by a growth in
industry and natural resources
A higher demand for transportation arose,
hence the construction of railroads
The name Gilded Age came about because
of the prosperity of many business men
during the time such as Andrew Carnegie
and John D. Rockefeller
Mary Cassatt
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Mary Cassatt was one of the most famous Gilded
Age painters
She was influenced by artists such as Degas and
other Impressionists
Her subject matters leaned towards domestic
genre scenes
More intimate, sweet, gentle looking figures
Emphasis on the form of figures, incorporation
of colors, shades, highlights, and compositional
arrangements
La Toilette, oil on canvas, 1891
Portrait of a Little Girl, oil on canvas, 1878
John Singer Sargent
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Another Gilded Age painter living from 1856 1925
Most famous for his portraits
He was also influenced by the Impressionist
movement particularly artists such as Velasquez
and Frans Hals
Sargent also depicted every day scenes in his
paintings, however, he seemed to have a greater
focus on the upper class
His portraits were characteristic of the wealth of
the Gilded Age
Daughters of Edward D. Boit, oil on canvas, 1882
Madame X, oil on canvas, 1884
Winslow Homer
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Watercolor artists who depicted outdoor scenes
of people at work, landscapes, etc.
He had more masculine scenes and figures
He created his subjects in their purest form (not
idealized)
He used common citizens for his inspiration and
subject matter, particularly fishermen and scenes
of the ocean
With watercolor he had to work from light to
dark in a very delicate manner
Mending the Nets, watercolor and gouache over
graphite , 1882
Life Line, oil on canvas, 1884
America: 1900-1920
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Major Movements During this time period:
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Progressivism: A broad based reform movement
that sought governmental action in solving problems
in many areas of American Life including: Education,
public health, the economy, the environment, labor,
transportation, and politics.
Fundamentalist Movement: Anti-modernist
Protestant Movement started in the early twentieth
century that proclaimed the literal truth of the bible
the name came from the Fundamentals, published by
the conservative leaders.
1900-1920
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Feminism: Movement that entered life in the
early twentieth century. The movement
emphasized full equality for women in political,
social, and personal life.
Americanization of Society:
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Sought to convert immigrants to the “American Way
of Life” (Anglo-Saxon Culture)
Melting Pot Phenomenon
Frank Lloyd Wright
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Imperial Hotel, 19121923
Guggenheim, 1936
Thomas Eakins, The Chess Players
1876
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Oil on Wood
Robert Henri, The Masquerade
Dress: Portrait of Mrs. Henri 1911
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Oil on canvas
76 ½ x 36 ¼”
Marcel Duchamp, The Bride
Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors,
1915-1923
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272.5 x 175.8 cm
Oil paint, varnish,
lead foil, lead wire,
and dust on two
cracked glass plates,
each mounted
between 2 glass
panels, in steel and
wood frame.
Works Cited
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America’s Library
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgibin/page.cgi/jb/gilded
WebMuseum, Paris
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cassatt/
Artchive
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/C/cassatt.html
John Singer Sargent Virtual Gallery
http://www.jssgallery.org/index.htm
“Uncanny Spectacle The Public Career of the Young John
Singer Sargent”, Marc Simpson
Artchive http://www.artchive.com/artchive/H/homer.html
Son of the South
http://www.sonofthesouth.net/Winslow_Homer.htm
Works Cited
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PBS : Frank Lloyd Wright
www.pbs.org
Marcel Duchamp
www.understandingduchamp.com
www.paraethos.com/occulturelbride.htm
Robert Henri
www.butlerart.com
The Ashcan School
www.pbs.org
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/eapa/ho_81.14.ht
m
Works Cited
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Museumsatstonybrook.org
Atrlex.com/ArtLex/kl/luminism.html
Tfaoi.com
American Art, Brown, Hunter, Jacobus,
Rosenblum and Sokol, 1979, Pentice-Hall
Inc. NJ