American Art History Midterm

Pyramid of the Moon Teotihuacan c. 100-650 CE.

- Ceremonial

Grave Creek Mound Moundsville, West Virginia c.250-150 BCE

- burial site - The modern platform informs speculation that ancient people ascended to the top

Hierarchy of Painting

1. History painting 2. Historical portraiture 3. Portraiture 4. Genre painting 5. Landscape painting 6. Animal painting 7. Still life

Engraving, etching, Mezzotint

1. lines are cut into a metal plate in order to hold the ink 2. lines or areas are incised using acid into a metal plate in order to hold the ink 3. allows for the creation of prints with soft gradations of tone and rich and velvety blacks

"Pre-Columbian"

A growing viewpoint has questioned the use of the term "Pre-Columbian" to describe artistic traditions that flourished in the Americas before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the so-called New World: • These peoples and their artists did not identify themselves as Pre-Columbian. • It is problematic to define the many civilizations and arts of the Americas in relation to a European man; we need to beware of imposing Eurocentric terminology on frameworks that developed independently of Columbus. • In recent years, for example, the Denver Art Museum has renamed its extraordinarily strong collection of "Pre-Columbian Art" as "Art of the Ancient Americas."

Anonymous France Bringing the Faith to the Huronsc 1670 Quebec City

Art was commissioned for French churches to teach the ways of the Roman Catholic faith - This peaceful depiction was largely fiction: represents what they hoped these meetings would result as - The French print, which is shown to the Indigenous man, explains that one only needs to invoke the Lord's family to have their favor - saving the souls in the land under a new ruler - depicts the heavenly and earthly families of Christ

Simon van de Passe Pocahontas c.1616

Art was largely condemned in religious teachings in New England and only used in a secular context - Portraiture of prominent figures created distrust - Less dramatic styles of portraiture were supported (more historical and true): minimal shading, shallow space, emphasis on detailed decorative patterns - Stripped Pocahontas of her Indigenous features, dress, and name

John Singleton Copley Henry Pelham, or Boy with a Squirrel 1765

Captures Copley's skill: faces, composition, texture - sense of wonder as to what the boy is thinking - commentary on relationship between humans and nature in colonial America - First work for a global audience, rather than a domestic Chain represents crossing the Atlantic Squirrel represents diligence, patience, and proper education (The flying squirrel represents travel and movement) Profile face recalls commemorative coins or medals - prestige, portability, and reliability - The circulating of objects, cultures, and ideas

Diagram of slave house at Curriboo Plantation After 1740

Cob-walling construction techniques also found in African Caribbean and parts of central and west Africa - Customs brought to America along with the enslaved people (Drum)

John Trumbull The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, 1775. 1786

Compared to West's Death of General Wolfe: - Trumbulls' are much more dramatic and dynamic (composition, line, posing, looser brushwork) - Similar story of the heroic man, but this scene did not end in victory: During battle, not after - Neoclassical - Indigenous figure (more central and active) (compares to Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill - mirrored composition, subjects/narrative, posing)

John Singleton Copley Watson and the Shark 1778

Depicts Brook Watson loosing his leg to a shark attack and comments on the War of Independence. - pyramidal grouping of the men in the boat with a black man at the apex - The diagonal lines suggest movement, the rope doesn't seem to act as anything more than a point of connection, black man reaches for Watson, high horizon (Compares to St. Michael and Transfiguration of Christ by Raphael/ Death of General Wolfe)

John Singleton Copley Portrait of Paul Revere 1768

Depicts his profession as a silversmith - The earlier teapot's Rococo curves cede in the later teapot to straight Neoclassical lines.

Benjamin West Penn's Treaty with the Indians When He Founded the province of Pennsylvania in North America 1771

Depicts relations between Europeans and indigenous people and subsequent power struggle - Shows a meeting of peace between the groups as taking the moral high ground - West's respect for Indigenous culture- used real artifacts as models to inject authenticity - The Belt of Wampum delivered by the Indians to William Penn at the "Great Treaty" - Translated into a print helped to promote the fame of the treaty and the painting. West understood the commercial benefits and critical acclaim that prints could bring him. -"The great object I had in forming that composition was to express savages brought into harmony and peace by justice and benevolence, by not withholding from them what was their right, and giving to them what they were in want of, as well as a wish to give by that art a conquest made over native people without sward or Dadger."

John Trumbull The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. 1787-1820

Despite the title of this painting, it appears to depict the moment on June 28, 1776, when the first draft of the Declaration of Independence was presented to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. - Pyrimidal composition

Virgin of the Rosary, known as La Conquistadorac 1625 Cathedral of Saint Francis, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Despite uncertainty over its exact date and place of origin, this statue represents the type of art that Spaniards brought into newly conquered territories. • Art here fulfills an important role in colonization, so as to reinforce the settlers' religion and to change the spirituality of the indigenous populations. • The Virgin of the Rosary is not just art; she is said to receive prayers and serve as an agent of heavenly intervention on earth.

St. Luke's Church 1632 Isle of Wight County, Virginia

Distinct from houses Ancient Roman influence (The Pantheon) - Pediment Gothic and Medieval influence (tall pointed windows) Compares to French churches with buttressing, English and Netherlandish architecture with stepped gables - brick was a symbol of higher status; typical materials were wood or mud

Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues René de Laudonnière and the Indian Chief Athore visit Ribaut's Column c. 1570

France placed columns to stake claim: shield and crown remind the people whom they are fighting for -The Timucuan people are shown kneeling to the column (submitting to the French) and providing offerings (corn and gords are distinctly American) - propaganda to reshape the story of colonization to the people back in France - Shows the 'savageness' of the people - Chief stands in a pose similar to Apollo

Pueblo Bonito 900 - 1150 CE Chaco Canyon, New Mexico Anasazi culture

Functioned as a ceremonial, food storage, and trade center Sandstone walls take their material from the nearby cliffs of Chaco Canyon. • Rows of horizontal stones constitute part of the Pueblo Bonito aesthetic. • The orderly design also extends to the alignment of some doorways. (Compares to Poverty point in the use of semi-circles)

Martin Waldseemüller [World Map, with earliest documented evidence of "America" name applied to land west of Africa.] 1507

Historians identify this map as the first document naming the so-called New World as America Amerigo Vespucci (c.1454-1512), a Florentine man who had written about his travels to the so-calledNew World, seemingly recognized that this land mass was not the Asian continent sought by European explorers and their backers. His words led to his first name of Amerigo serving as the basis for "America."

Edward Savage The Washington Family 1789-96

In the past, portraits of leaders and their families had a dynastic message; the children of rulers (in these cases, Egypt's pharaoh and Spain's king) would inherit royal power and preserve the unbroken chain of the dynasty. However, the family portrait of the Washington family was not dynastic. - Hand position of enslaved man suggests manly temper with becoming modesty - Nobility and domestic harmony through framing - Symbols show Washington as a military, civic, and family leader

Stadthuys (Town Hall) Built 1641-42 New Amsterdam (NYC) (19th-century lithograph by George Hayward. Based on a sketch of 1679 by Adrian Danckers)

The tallest building started as a tavern on Pearl Street at Coentijs Slip. • In 1653, the tavern was designated as the town hall. - Dutch influence with stepped gables - Shows the town's focus on trade/commerce, architecture, daily life, and lineage (compares to James Veer's View of Delft)

Thomas U. Walter West Front, Enlarged U.S.Capitol / Dome 1851-1865 Washington DC

Increased size of the dome to offset the larger wings (accommodated the new states) - Resembles St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome (Michelangelo) and St. Paul's Cathedral in London: ties the significance, power, and success of the Roman Republic - Also marked the decoration of the dome with a plaster model of Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace by Thomas Crawford

Church of San Xavier del Bac Mission 1783-97 Near Tucson, Arizona

It remains one of the oldest structures from the European colonization of the American Southwest. -Franciscan emblem: followers on St. Francis The exuberant decoration represents an ultra-baroque style typical in the mid-eighteenth century in Mexico, Spain, and elsewhere- denotes wealth - Brick and limestone - domes, round-headed arches, and flying buttresses which were rare in the Mission Buildings of New Mexico • The dome helps to take this church beyond the sophistication of the churches at Acoma and Santa Fe.

Thomas Jefferson State Capitol Richmond, Virginia 1785-9

Jefferson believed that architecture served an important symbolic function and should represent the nation's values which aligned with the ancient Roman Republic, moving away from British influence - Copied the Maison Carree at Nimes in South France, a Roman temple from the first century - Neoclassical architecture - Diverged from colonial buildings (English or Northern European)

William Thornton, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, and Charles Bulfinch United States Capitol 1792-1850

Jefferson required the building to turn to Classical models for inspiration - Palace of Versailles: rustication, width, buttressing - The Pantheon: pediment and dome Plan also featured chambers for two separate branches of Congress, American subject matter (tobacco leaves and corn cobs on capitals)

Mississippian; reconstruction of the mounds, with Monks Mound in the Center c.1110 CE Cahokia, Illinois

Largest Mississippian community - Comparable to the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan: - Monks Mound accommodated civic and religious rituals - Site of political hierarchy (trade/commerce) - Mediated matters of trade, information, and regulation of social or political relations - Proximity to water allowed for large-scale trade and travel

Reconstruction diagram of the Templo Mayor (Main Temple) Tenochtitlan Aztec culture around 1500

Left: Temple for God of Rain Right: Temple for God of Sun and War - circular relief sculpture, depicting the Moon Goddess, was the destination for bodies of sacrificial victims rolled down the steps from the temple of the Sun God. - Brought the sacred form of the volcanoes into the city - Compares to Venice (extensive canals)

Coffered vault Rotunda (under the dome) 1851-1865 United States Capitol, Washington DC

Resembles the Pantheon dome

Benjamin West The Death of General Wolfe 1770

Neoclassical inspired by ancient Roman art - compares to The Death of Germanicus and Oath of the Horatii - Classical emphasis on depicting the figure - Unification of those portrayed - Using diagonal lines to suggest movement (unsettling tone of death) - Sacrifice for the salvation of mankind (Christ pose), a stoic act rather than for material gain

Thomas Gibson Crawford; cast by slave craftsman Philip Reid and others Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace Completed 1863 U.S. Capitol, Washington DC

Plaster model of Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace (cast by an enslaved man). The finished statue wore a military helmet, rather than the original cap of a Roman emancipated slave

Principal author Thomas Jefferson The Declaration of Independence Broadside Philadelphia Printed by John Dunlap, [July 4-5, 1776]

Print for mass distribution altered font for legibility (?) - Same font as US Air Force - solidifying the identity of the young nation

Gilbert Stuart The Skater (Portrait of William Grant) 1782

Proves Stuart's skill in depicting a full figure, loose brushwork brings the subject into focus and adds movement/dynamic composition Painters usually depicted tiny skaters in art. Stuart's approach was original.

John Singleton Copley Self Portrait 1769

Received some initial training in art from his stepfather, Peter Pelham - depicted the social theater that was colonial Boston

Justus Engelhardt Kühn Henry Darnall III as a Child c. 1710

Sense of superiority in Southern colonies - elegant costume - formal gardens and palatial buildings - enslaved boy These elements were fabricated (aside from enslaved boy) to communicate status and noble proximity (Compares to The Marchesa Elena Grimaldi) - Tells story of a young boy meant for great things

Gilbert Stuart Portrait of Christian Stelle Banister and Her Son John Jr. c. 1774/1775

Stuart started his painting career in Rhode Island -In 1775/7, Stuart left for London, arrived destitute, andeventually worked in the studio of Benjamin West. - This portrait communicates status with a humanistic tone: the subjects clothing and posture suggests high status while the presence of family and their dog brings a more sympathetic connection

Attributed to Henri Couturier Governor Peter Stuyvesant c.1663

Stuyvesant was employed by Dutch West India Co. by 1635 and dispatched to Brazil. • He served as Director General of New Netherlands (including Manhattan) from 1646-64. Compared to René de Laudonnière and the Indian Chief Athore visit Ribaut's Column: Both works are meant to glorify a leader. • But one is from the age of exploration, while the other reflects a firmly established European idiom.

Church of San Estevan 1629-42 Acoma, New Mexico

Tallest building on the enchanted mesa • Two façade towers evoke European churches (also served military purposes) Materials were brought up the mesa - Simple post-and-lintel construction, adobe brick, and minimal facade: simplicity, humility, and poverty (spirit of Franciscan order) - Represents the many changes forced by the Spaniards: gender roles, religious practices (Christianization), architecture

Castillo de San Marcos 1672-87 Saint Augustine, Florida

The earliest monumental secular architecture in Spanish America is military - Built to defend a center of trade against British attack - Coquina walls could absorb cannon balls - Built with slave and convict labor • Fortifications not only provided protection, but they symbolized strength. - One of many fortresses in Spanish land: Castillo San Felipe El Morro in Puerto Rico (Compares to more recent military buildings such as Fort Sumter and the Pentagon)

Pierre-Charles L'Enfant Plan of the City of Washington (detail). 1791 engraving of 1887 after the original drawing Library of Congress, Washington DC

The founders wanted a central capitol independent from any state and without connection to England - proposal to utilize grid layout to support the needs of an agricultural economy and could easily be occupied in a democratic fashion - L'Enfant proposed the radiating avenues modeled after Versailles which caused tensions due to desire to separate from monarchal implications (symbolizes power struggle and complex ties happening at a larger scale) - However, Versailles was modeled after Rome considering the paths throughout the city that lead to churches - Sixtus V's plan for Rome suggested wider streets that created a direct path - seen in DC plan as the streets lead towards significant buildings - Deep connections with France

Sebastiano del Piombo Portrait of a Man, said to be Christopher Columbus 1519

The inscription identifies the subject: "This is the admirable portrait of the Ligurian Columbus, the first to enter by ship into the world of the Antipodes." • Columbus (1451-1506) provides the basis for the naming of Pre-Columbian art and architecture.

Paul Revere The Bloody Massacre 1770 Engraving with watercolor

The linear basis for this engraving is unlike the tonal basis for the mezzotint

Poverty Point Northeastern Louisiana c.1500 BCE

The population may have been at about 1,000 or more, which was very large for this period within the lands that have come to form the contiguous United States of America. - constructed in concentric circles facing East - Sourced rock from distant locations

Frontispiece Theodor de Bry A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia Frankfurt 1590

This book therefore constitutes one of the earliest means by which art made in America reached a wide audience. • The art also shaped European perceptions of people and customs in North America. - Propaganda

John Vanderlyn Landing of Columbus 1846

This painting depicts the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World on October 12, 1492. The site is an island in the Bahamas, although Columbus had hoped it was Asia. This moment is the beginning of the end for Pre-Columbian art and architecture. - Marks the end of Pre-Columbian art Symbols: clothes, othering of Indigenous people, weapons

Gilbert Stuart George Washington (the Lansdowne Portrait) 1796

This portrait is significant because Stuart was breaking new ground in representing an elected leader of a new republic, not of a monarch. - Stance resembles a Senator of the Roman Republic (first century BCE Roman statues) and signals the address of the public with outstretched hand - Set in his office, Stuart communicates his dedication and pursuit of knowledge, while hinting at his history as a the head of the Continental army - Chair and table are adorned with iconography of the new nation: stars, stripes, arrows, and eagles (compares to Augustus of Primaporta, Abraham Lincoln by George Peter Alexander Healy and Barack Obama portrait by Kehinde Wiley)

William Williams, Sr. Portrait of Benjamin Lay c.1750-1758

This portrait was commissioned by Benjamin Franklin. • By 1731, Benjamin Lay had already begun speaking against slavery. He emphasized that God respects all people equally.

Peter Pelham The Reverend Cotton Mather 1728

This type of print is a mezzotint.Your textbook's glossary defines a mezzotint as "a method of engraving on copper or steel by burnishing or scraping away a uniformly roughened surface, creating pits that can hold ink."The term mezzotint includes the Italian word mezzo, which means "half" in English. We are looking at a medium known for half-tones.

John White The Village of Secoton c. 1585

White documented this new world for European audiences. • Sixty-three watercolors illustrate the dwellings, agriculture, rituals, artistic activities, and daily life of Algonquian people in the vicinity of Roanoke. - White's watercolors served as a basis for A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia engravings by Theodor de Bry

John White Theire Sitting at meate c. 1585

White's watercolors served as a basis for A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia engravings by Theodor de Bry - Altered positions of subjects to a seated position and the face of the woman

Henrietta Johnston Mrs. Samuel Prioleau 1715

• Johnston is sometimes described as the first woman artist in English America - High status - Immigrants escaping from France - Pastel (compared to Marie du Bose, this portrait's brushstrokes are loose and abstract. There is a hardness about her eyes that the Marie du Bose portrait lacks)