All-American Art In Early America

In the early 1800's America began to create their own unique culture. For the longest time, America had been getting their ideas and being influenced by other countries. I believe that they wanted to create a new type of culture that was truly American. They did this by creating new art forms such as literature, music, painting, and architecture. For example, Americans began using characters and setting that fell into the "American" category. Most characters, were "portrayed as strong, brave, resourceful, and honorable" (chapter 6-3, page 323). Another thing Americans did different, is what they built things. "American architects of the early 1800s developed their own forms of building" (chapter 6-3, page 325). Based on ideas from Greece and

This art study will define the important role that Thomas Sully (1783-1872) had in painting portraits for American presidential elites in the 19th century. During early part of the 19th century, Sully was known as the premier portrait painter of John Quincy Adams and President Andrew Jackson as major works of his career. Sully had studied under the famous American portrait painter, Gilbert Stuart, which provided him the techniques and political access to paint presidents as part of a career in the arts. These works defined a high level of sophistication for an American painter, which relied heavily on Sully’s training as a painter in America and in Europe. Sully became the premiere painter of American elites due to an ability to capture the

As we know, the result of “Art is” is “Art is” which returned in an ephemeral form at the Studio Museum. All forty photographs are on display on the basement level of the galleries, which are supposedly reserved for pieces in their permanent collection. The room just outside, whether coincidentally or not, is filled with photos of students - reflecting personal memories. How the museum decides to play with this, is by missing them with old-timer photos of Harlem from the

(2005). In D. Bjelajac, American Art: A Cultural History (pp. 37-129). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, Inc.

In this selection of the book, Gitlin discusses a seventeenth-century Dutch painter by the name of Vermeer. Vermeer was known for being able to”fr[ee]ze instants, but instants that spoke of the relative constancy of the world in which his subjects lived” (Gitlin 558). People collected Vermeer’s paintings for display throughout their homes. Gitlin sees Vermeer as the seventeenth-century version of the media. In that time, the images painted were relative to the people’s era and private world. In today’s world Vermeer would be the equivalent to a celebrity photographer or movie director. If Vermeer, or any other artist of his time, were to see today’s households, they would find that the once private space inside the home is now much more dominated by images of the outside world than what would have been possible in the 1600’s.

It is believable that John Vanderlyn, in his painting Landing of Columbus, was trying to portray the success of Columbus and his crew. Columbus heroic stance and elegant expression are made all the more impressive in comparison to the native people who witness the event. The Native Americans are naked, fearful or subservient, bowing down before the explorer in awe and reverence. The symbols of empire are shown in the heroic explorer with his Christian crosses and steel swords symbolizing the significance in the power of civilization. In 1836 of June, Congress had commissioned John Vanderlyn to paint the Landing of Columbus. About eleven years later the painting was

During the late 1750’s visual art began to take its place in the colonial world with the birth of “Several outstanding artists” and their talent with portrait painting and

The 1920s were a time of great prosperity and revitalization. This decade gave way to many great social milestones for every class of people. From the limits for immigration to the boom of the auto industry American society was drastically altered. Issues such as foreign immigration,prohibition, the Ku Klux Klan ,evolution, women’s roles, and race were the focus of the populus and drove politics within the nation. Art played a major role in how the black community expressed their new found sense of culture. Painting has always been a way for someone to portrait their ideas.

In order to discuss pop art I have chosen to examine the work and to some extent lives of Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol who were two of the main forces behind the American movement. I intend to reflect the attitudes of the public and artists in America at this time, while examining the growing popularity of pop art from its rocky, abstract expressionist start in the 1950s through the height of consumer culture in the 60s and 70s to the present day.

In 1931, which happened to be the middle year of the entire depression, “View of New York” was created by an American painter and photographer named Charles Sheeler New York City. Currently, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston reserves the right to display the painting, and the observer had a chance to look at the painting directly with zero distance. This painting

With the invention of the camera came the desire for realism. The world was changing and it was happening fast. Fast enough that people were being over looked as business and the need for natural materials lead the way. Through war in France came realism and it caused discomfort at the sight of unpleasant looking locals and grim topics, such as death. Artists were really on top of their game with the material added in their paintings that represented serious political issues and issues with the church. If I had not read about the paintings I would not have looked at them in a more serious light. I would have continued to believe these were relaxed beautiful paintings of people in the 1800's. Even the painting of Rue Transnonain by Honoré was

Portrait painting thrived in the Netherlands with the increase in production driven by interest in the idea of personhood and the definition of the individual self. Portraits help document the development of a personal identity as it connects factors like marital status, class, and profession. A common portrait genre produced during the seventeenth century portrays their subjects with an impassive demeanor with little vigor. At first, these paintings may be evaluated as lacking “personality” or “characterization” due to the artist’s lack of talent. However, this is rarely the case. In trying to understand Dutch portraiture, it is important to identify what type of functions they serve. Abraham de Vries’ Double Portrait functions not only as recording of his sitters’ faces but also as a signifier of the cultural, social and philosophical ideas of the time.

In “Ways of Seeing”, John Berger, an English art critic, argues that images are important for the present-day by saying, “No other kind of relic or text from the past can offer such direct testimony about the world which surrounded other people at other times. In this respect images are more precise and richer literature” (10). John Berger allowed others to see the true meaning behind certain art pieces in “Ways of Seeing”. Images and art show what people experienced in the past allowing others to see for themselves rather than be told how an event occurred. There are two images that represent the above claim, Arnold Eagle and David Robbins’ photo of a little boy in New York City, and Dorothea Lange’s image of a migratory family from Texas; both were taken during the Great Depression.

Art can be a means to send messages, often through a contorted reality. Throughout history, art has presided as a chief means to sublimely critique institutions and offer insight or cause reflection. One example of an artist who analyzed and critiqued society was Salvador Dali, a native Spanish citizen who travelled the world and expressed emotions through his surrealist artwork. Dali, a recognized artist in the 1900s, employed art to create outlandish and surreal images that force viewers to confront reality. Through the use of countless symbols and manipulated physical proportions he found ways to critique society. In Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man, Salvador Dali confronts America’s emerging

The awareness of the idea of giving art its proper freedom of expression, only came into being in the 1900s. During the pre-Hispanic time pottery, tattoos, textiles, ornaments, etc. were the art works considered by most as art forms but were actually objects of utility and convenience. The creation of these objects was a way of life rather than just something made for the pleasure of viewing or admiring.