History 1 Paper

Chris Ashmus History 11-27-06

Discussion of American Art in the Early 19th Century

From

humble

wilderness

beginnings,

great

social

and

psychological change advanced the course of the small colonies to the stalwart United States we know today. Because of the correspondence between art and history we are able to explore American arts and their relationship to America's history and its

identity.

The earliest known artists of the colonies were known as “Limners” which is Latin for “Line Makers.” Although they were not

officially

recognized These

called

today

limners

as

were

artists

important

during

their

contributers

self-taught

artists

time, to

who

they

American painted

are art.

house

decorations, furniture accents and most notably tavern signs. Because

of

their

lack

of

education, limners

were unable

to

appropriately mix colors, accurately portray the human anatomy, or capture subtle light and dark hues. This style of art could not net a profitable income in a single locale during most of this era, so limners were forced to move from settlement to settlement doing odd jobs for whomever would hire them. Even though the art of the limner was often lifeless and monotonous, it was very simple and sincere and in essence spoke to the

identity of the American colonist. (Yale, 2)

As America grew in wealth, the tastes of the American colonists grew more sophisticated and expensive. The wealthy desired a way to feel affluent in all areas including their art. In Europe, the 'sophisticated' art of the time was known as Neoclassicism, which means 'new classicism'. Neoclassicism is characterized by the introduction and widespread use of Greek orders and decorative motifs, the subordination of detail to simple, strongly geometric overall compositions, the presence of light

colors

or

shades,

frequent

shallowness

of

relief

in

ornamental treatment of façades, and the absence of textural effects. (Heritage 569). In the 18th century, the discovery and excavation of Roman cities such as Herculaneum (1709) and Pompeii (1711) helped fuel renewed interest in the classical world of the Greeks and Romans as

a

source

of

inspiration

for

artists,

scholars

and

philosophers. (Columbia 19). Neoclassicism had an appreciation for the human form. It also applied its focus to details of material things such as clothing, jewelry, and even extravagant furniture. It is clear why this art form would command the interests of the newly wealthy colonists. In America, Neoclassical art and philosophy would dominate well

into

1700's

and

the

nineteenth

early

1800s,

century. an

However,

additional

during

tradition,

the that

late of

portrait painting, would emerge because of America's emphasis on the importance of creating its legacy. Benjamin West, a painter

from Boston, was commissioned by wealthy Boston philanthropists to study Neoclassical portraiture in Europe. West became quite famous and with his money, opened a school in London where painters could study under his tutelage and the school became a mecca for young American artists. The first famous painter to graduate from Benjamin West's school of art was Gilbert Stuart. Stuart, a loyal neoclassical painter, was the perfect choice for a presidential portrait painter because of his prominent masculine style. Stuart painted portraits of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe and John Quincy Adams. All these presidents, including the Democratic-Republicans Jefferson and Madison, were conservative and rooted in Classical philosophy so their choice to commission Stuart was fully appropriate. Stuart started the tradition of presidential portraits that continues today. The next president to take office after John Quincy Adams was Andrew Jackson of the Democratic party. He was a much more outgoing president, one who identified with the needs of the common man. Adams, the president before him, was basically a federalist except on paper and Jackson could not be any more dissimilar. Naturally, Jackson would want his portrait painter to be one who spoke to his own character instead of the elites before him, so he hired Thomas Sully. Although Sully was also a student from Benjamin West's school just as Gilbert Stuart had been, Sully's art was much more flowing and less intense. Still officially

categorized

as

Neoclassicism,

his

art

under

examination would show that this classification was a stretch. Sully painted his subjects in common garb instead of the gaudy outfits of his predecessors, and the poses were seductive and real instead of the cold postures of Stuart. During the later years of Neoclassicism, a growing America would demand the work of sculptors trained in 'sophisticated' (neoclassical)

style.

What

Henry

James

called

“The

White

Marmorean Flock” streamed into Italy in the 1820s and 1830s. The most prominent of these was Boston's Horatio Greenough, who was commissioned by Congress to create a heroic sculpture of George Washington.

The

statue,

half-clad

in

marble

draperies,

was

greeted with ridicule when it was installed in the rotunda of the Capitol. “Will it not be worth thirty thousand dollars,” Greenough argued, “to be able to point to the figure and say, 'there was the first struggle of our infant art.'” (Sculpture 1) The people did not listen to his cries, however, and the sculpture

was

removed

from

the

capital

and

placed

in

the

Smithsonian where it remains (but is rarely visited) to this day. The Marmorean Flock, however, became very successful. Not only was sculpture profitable, but came to be astonishingly progressive. One student, Edmonia Lewis, was one of the many women let in to the art circle; even more remarkably, she was the daughter of a freed slave father and a Chippewa Indian mother. (Sculpture)

Although Neoclassicism was the main art movement of its time, other art forms arose from the American experience. Many

in America were conflicted about the assimilation or destruction of the Native American culture by westward expansion. One of the opponents

of

this

cultural

abolition

was

a

young

aspiring

painter from Pennsylvania named George Catlin. Catlin had tried his hand at portrait painting but soon realized he was not suited to be a portraitist. Instead, as a fall-back, he was sent to law school by his parents. In 1824 a group of Far-western Indians came to his campus to show off their various ceremonial dress and dance. Catlin, sketching the Indians, soon realized that his drawings of them were the best he had ever made. Because of this, Catlin believed there was a spiritual calling for him to record every detail of the Indians in their 'natural state' before they were eradicated; Catlin, as did many others, believed

that

the

Natives

were

doomed

to

destruction.

“The

history and customs of such a people, preserved by pictorial illustrations, are themes worthy of the life time of one man, and nothing short of loss of my life shall prevent me from visiting

their

country,

and

of

becoming

their

historian.”

(Catlin) Catlin then visited every known, and some unknown, Indian camps

of

his

time.

The

Natives

also

saw

Catlin

as

a

man

respectful of their culture and allowed him many opportunities to stay for weeks in their villages. From 1830 to 1837 he produced an incredible amount of work and assembled it into an exhibit. He traveled the world with it, showing the dangers of the American governmental policies to the captivating culture of the Natives. (Yale)

As

America

expanded

westward,

a

new

breed

of

artist,

inspired by the works of Romanticist Thomas Cole, emerged. These artists

were

interested

in

capturing

the

vast

American

landscape, which was harsh but also of great beauty. They called themselves

Luminists

because

of

the

way

they

were

able

to

capture light on the canvas and are known today as “American Romantics”. “American

Romanticism grew out of the broader

Romantic style of the early 1800s. Romanticism was

a

order

reaction and

to

the

Neoclassical

civilization.

individualistic

Romantics

ideal

of

created

art that seeks truth and deep

emotion in the beauty of nature. They sought out nature for its own sake, not as a setting for human endeavor. And instead of portraying wild nature

from

Romantics viewer

an

objective

created

as

a

distance,

paintings

participant

that

in

American

involved

nature.

the

American

Romantics looked to the American wilderness as the roots of a unique American character. This perspective

helped

artists

like

Albert

Bierstadt, Frederic Church and Thomas Moran free themselves of conventional European art styles and experiment with new subject matter and brush techniques

to

capture

the

glorious

American

Landscape.” (Sanford) These painters formed a school called the Hudson River School,

which was the first indigenous school of American painting. The art was not restricted just to the Hudson Valley; they painted the Smokey Mountains, the Adirondacks, the Berkshires and even the Rocky Mountains.

When

one

thinks

of

the

American

dream,

one

doesn't

necessarily think of extremely wealthy men in top-hats. They think more so of common people living an average endearing life of hard work and modest success. In the 1830s and 1840s a new breed of artists made it their goal to play to those dreams. Genre

artists

–

artists

depicting

everyday life

-

had

been

around in the Flemish art scene for a hundred years, but perhaps nowhere was it more appreciated than in American culture. From Long Island there was William Sidney Mount, who painted his neighbors farming and working the tills. Even more famous was the Missouri native George Caleb Bingham who painted small town and river scenes. Although Bingham's works would be considered low-brow by contemporary art sophisticates, they were incredibly popular

with

the

common

man.

It

was

not

until

the

early

twentieth century, long after his death, that Bingham would be considered a master of art covering the time of Mark Twain and riverboats. The style of Genre is still carried out today in the same

way

it

was

over

one

hundred

years

ago

with

masters

including Norman Rockwell.

By the middle of the 19th century, the time of the early American art boom was nearing a close, mostly because of growing

sectional strife that would culminate in the Civil War and the invention of photography.

The deep depression and loss of the

Civil War produced bleak art forms and the photograph was able to

show

unlike

the any

devastation other

form

and

senselessness

before

it.

of

Possibly

the

hostility

because

of

the

apparent fruitlessness of life, the tradition of portraiture was no longer needed and the realistic photography was infused. The time of Greek influence on art was all but extinct as people desired a more concrete examination of life. (Mathew)

There truly are parallels between art and history, in this case mirroring the events of a new nation. In the beginning, the new settlers could not go beyond strictly utilitarian elements of

art,

brought

by

unschooled

itinerant

craftspersons.

As

resources of the colonies grew, the level of art increased. Like commerce and culture, art then mimicked established European themes. Even after the colonies threw off the yoke of British rule, they remained linked with the old world, especially France and Great Britain. Before long, however, the internal concerns of America became primary, and America developed its own unique art

as

it

devolved

its

own political,

economic, and

social

culture. Slowly but surely, the nation and its art were able to move away from the past and begin their own traditions, which we may rightly call American.