Art History 258 AMERICAN ART: Painting and Sculpture until 1918 Spring 2000 Maurie D. McInnis

Campbell 160 MWF 10:00-10:50AM Office: 203 Peyton Annex Office Telephone number: 243-8651 Office hours: Mon. 2:00-3:00P & Wed. 2:00-4:00P (or by appointment) e-mail: McInnis@virginia.edu

Objective identification: In this section you will be given a series of terms or questions that you will be expected to identify and explain (examples: "define hierarchy of the genres" or "explain the Calvinist attitude toward art"). Number to be determined, but there will be some choice involved (example: choose 3 of 4).

Slide pairs: You will next be shown a series of slide pairs (probably three or four). You will be expected to identify these images by artist, title, and approximate date (+/- 10 years). You are responsible for those images that were discussed in class that are also included in your textbook or on the class website. While identification counts, what you write in your answer is of greater importance. The slide pairs will each be accompanied by a question that should focus your discussion. The images shown will help you in your discussion, but you should also feel free to refer to other paintings in your answer. You will have about 10-12 minutes for each question, so come prepared to write quickly and efficiently. Your answer is expected to be in the form of an essay: i.e., complete sentences, paragraphs, some sense of an introduction and a conclusion. As you study you should concentrate on substantive matters such as themes, ideas, and connections between works of art, such as those suggested below.

• The development of American selfhood
• The role of class in American portraiture
• The role of race and gender in American portraiture
  
• Regional variations in American portraiture
  
• What does Staiti mean when he refers to "authenticating narratives"?
  
• The iconography of portraiture
  
• Grand Manner History Painting ­ its revolution and its evolution
  
• What was considered appropriate subject matter for history painting and how did American artists and American
• patrons think it should be presented?
  
• The role of classical antiquity in American art and American politics
  
• Americašs new heroes ­ who were they and how should they be presented in art?
  
• Americašs differing attitudes toward landscape painting
  
• The connection between landscape painting and nationalism

Hints:
The following are some suggestions for writing a good essay for the slide pairs.

• Begin with complete identification of each work of art: artist, title, and date. If the artist is unknown, you should list anonymous. You may then refer to the works of art in your essay by shorthand, i.e., Colešs painting or the one of the right, etc.
  
• Your answers should have the semblance of an essay. That is, there should be an introduction that understands that you grasp the theme being explored by the slide pairing and the question.
  
• Remember the importance of context. If you have the portrait of the Freakes and fail to discuss Puritanism (or Congregationalism) youšve missed the point.
  
• Be careful with your time. To that end, avoid throw-away phrases like: "the paintings I will be discussing;" "painting progressed in the colonies;" "as time progressed;" "different things can be seen in the different paintings." (All examples from previous years). Make sure you are actually saying something that gets to the heart of the question at hand.

Example Essay Question from a previous year:

Anonymous, Mrs. John Freake and Baby Mary, 1671-1674
Justus Engelhardt Kühn, Henry Darnell III, 1710

Distinctly different cultural circumstances existed in the northern and southern colonies. Using these two paintings as examples, discuss the different cultural circumstances and their influence on painting.

The North and South were two entirely different socio-economic regions. The northern colonies were urbanized, town-centered, and merchant based; the southern colonies were agrarian and plantation based. In the northern colonies one worked onešs way to becoming rich; in the southern colonies slaves were used to sustain the wealth in a family and there were less social movement. Furthermore, the northern colonies had their roots in Puritanism and Calvinism, whereas the southern colonies had their roots in Anglican tradition, which espoused a much more aristocratic lifestyle (as seen in the social mores of Charleston, South Carolina).

These differences lend to two very different developments in painting styles. The northern emphasized materialism, pragmatism and egalitarianism. The southern portraits had a much greater aristocratic flair. The (left) painting is one from the northern colonies. Although the style is still very provincial, the ideals of the northern colonies are clearly evident. Nothing is in the portrait that wasnšt meant to be there. Mrs. John Freake has a delicately wrought lace collar, she wears an embroidered undergarment, and is adorned with pearls, bracelets, and a drop pearl. These are all allusions to their materialistic wealth ­ a sign that there are industrious and favored by God. The (right) painting has a decidedly different air. Henry Darnell holds a bow and arrow to indicate his aristocratic status. His slave in the background holds his game for him and is dressed in rustic clothing. The slave is included to attest to Henryšs social position. The real interesting aspect of this painting, however, is in the elaborate stone balustrade and monumental gardens seen in the background with sculptured fountains. This is a drastic embellishment meant to raise Henry Darnell to the status of the European aristocracy that might have such awesome works.

Thus the New England painting was much more realistic, whereas the southern portrait borrows its forms from mezzotints to try associate themselves with something they aspired to but were not. Also, artists in the south roamed from plantation to plantation because there was a lack of urbanization. In the northern colonies they could have studios.

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