West of the Imagination is a collection of fascinating tales of western artists from Charles Willson Peale to Georgia O’Keeffe. Furthermore, it covers various art forms from painting to photography to sculpture to illustration and to theatrical production. This book also explores comparisons between such artists as the man who “made a momentous decision to become the latter-day George Catlin and record the “vanishing American” or “fallen foe” for posterity. This man was Edward Sheriff Curtis, a Seattle society photographer.” The authors are amply knowledgeable on the subject of life and art in the west as well as how the West is a enduring concept. The content is clear enough for the general public, but more appreciated by experts who have a background in western art and history. Specific names, locations, and events referenced, imply the reader should be knowledgeable of the context and historical significance of American history. Likewise, Robert Thacker, a book reviewer from St. Lawrence University, boldly stated that “This is in every meaning of the word a wonderful book.” Thacker expresses later that “The authoritative tone belies a wealth of information, for the authors make their analysis seem easy …show more content…
In spite of this, a few photos with high detail, Henry McArdle’s The Battle of San Jacinto and Private Gustavus Sohon’s Crossing the Hellgate, were reduced to a size that didn’t properly support the authors’ written investigation of the artwork. In addition, certain photos were excluded from the book; Fanny Palmer’s illustration Across the Continent, though described, is nowhere to be seen for instance. It is frustrating to read about an artwork with no representation of it; it is further aggravating to discover that the designer of the book placed photos pages away from the writing in an inconsistent way throughout the
The St. Louis Art Museum has many intriguing pieces of artwork, but my eyes seemed to navigate towards Thomas Cole’s pieces. Research has shown that Thomas Cole was best known for his landscape art, but through the portal of America’s wilderness and it’s association of God. Nature, human life, and mortality were the key viewpoints
The overview attached with the artwork provided an accurate description of the event that surrounded the painting, but there were a couple examples where certain terms were mistakenly included and other information was not included. When describing Lt. Burleson’s decision to cancel the assault on Mexico, the overview stated that Lt. Burleson was “reluctant to order an assault.” However, it is not mentioned that Lt. Burleson was informed of a potential leak to the Mexican Army of the surprise assault which would have given the Mexican Army time to prepare and potentially defeat the Texans. This lack of information can misinform viewers of the artwork and have audiences assume that Lt. Burleson could have been afraid of the assault or was unprepared. Another instance is when describing Milam’s reaction to Lt. Burleson’s decision.
Dwight Macdonald, in his essay “Masscult & Midcult”, draws a clear distinction between the high and low cultures of the US. He describes the High culture being traditional, where art is intentional and used to portray the artist’s inner emotions (9-10). In high culture art, the audience gets a direct message from the artist through his work, there is no subjectivity towards the individual. The next rung in the declining ladder is that of Folk art. Macdonald classifies Folk art to be like High culture art; however, only for the poor and the secluded, its voice coming from people without power yet its purpose specific towards a singular message (11). It is not for the elite like high culture, yet it is not degrading and exploitive like Masscult
Mary Catherine Bateson's Improvisation In a Persian Garden, Annie Dillard's Seeing and Leslie Marmon Silko's Landscape, History, and the Pueblo Imagination
The First painting that I was drawn to in the special exhibit “America after the fall: Painting in the 1930s”, was American Gothic by Grant Wood. This was a work that I had seen all through out my life because it was the staple image to represent the steadfast American pioneer spirit. Seeing it in person, rather than reproductions or prints let me realize why it was such an iconic American painting. It was a twentieth century painting with nineteenth century characteristics. The work is in the style of a typical portrait painting in the nineteenth century.
Beryl Markham was an outstanding role model for the women (and men) of her time. In her book West with the Night, she wrote about the great feats she accomplished in her lifetime; nonetheless, she managed to maintain a humble and caring demeanor. Some of Beryl’s positive traits such as her compassion, responsibility, and quick thinking are shown clearly through her various experiences with the wildlife of Africa. We are introduced to Beryl’s empathetic side when reading about a dramatic encounter from her youth with a seemingly domesticated lion named Paddy. Paddy attacked Beryl and faced the harsh, but fair consequence of being caged for the rest of his life.
The romantic era was a time in history that had altered how people viewed art, literature, and music, having its own significant style. Many people were known throughout the world for their contributions to the romantic era. Robert Scott Duncanson and Mary Edmonia Lewis were two important artists of the romantic era. The first American artist who will be spoken about is, Robert Scott Duncanson. Duncanson was a self-taught African American painter that was known mainly for his landscape paintings, but also for his portraits and murals. The following artist who will be spoken about Mary Edmonia Lewis. Lewis was known as the first “colored sculptor” in her time. In this paper, it will be discussed how these two artists overcame many obstacles
The iconic imagery of George Washington is present in various aspects of everyday life to the average American citizen; his portraits are displayed in government buildings, museums, a mountainside, and even loose pocket change. In a sense, his image has become a pseudo-allegorical figure representing the stability and power of the United States. Although the humble Washington has been documented as discontent with the act of sitting for artists, he patiently allowed hundreds of painters and sculptures to capture his likeness throughout his lifetime. None more frequent than the prominent renaissance-man and close friend, Charles Willson Peale and his family of artistic prodigies. Therefore, on account of his father’s status and success, Rembrandt
Georgia O'Keeffe is an American artist, who lived during American Modernism (“Georgia O’Keeffe”). She inspired many artists throughout her time and even after. She liked to use landscapes and architecture as subject matter (“Georgia O;Keeffe”). The historical context is significant during the time. Her style and type of artwork are very specific to who she was as an artist and a person because she loved the outdoors and beautiful landscapes. I fell in love with her art while in the library finding an artist to write about.
West with the Night is an autobiography by Beryl Markham, who is a pilot is Africa. In her book she juxtaposes Africa and London and then extends that juxtaposition to stand for the universal feelings of boredom and freedom. She chooses events from her job that highlight the difference between Africa and London to characterize herself as exotic and unique. She opens this excerpt by telling the story of transporting life saving oxygen to a dying old man. By choosing to reveal to us important and dangerous events from her job she reveals that she thinks of herself as adventurous, out-of-the-box, and a hero.
In Alexander Gardner’s Photographic Sketchbook of the Civil War, the haunting image “Harvest of Death” catches one’s eye with the seemingly endless field of corpses. The jarring facial expression on the figure in the foreground draws one into the narrative of the piece. However, our initial understanding of the image’s narrative is limited to what we can see and what we know of the circumstances surrounding it. While we know it was taken during the American Civil War, by simply looking at the photograph, we cannot know who is depicted. In black and white, it is difficult to even tell what side of the conflict these fallen soldiers fought for. We can interpret the image for our own readings, but we cannot tell what the artist intended us to see or what message he wanted to impart with it. These unknowns, however, are addressed in the related text associated with the image. These short passages can tell us a great deal about the photographer’s intentions and influence the way we read the image. Through the excerpt, we not only learn the intended meaning of the photography, but we also learn about Gardner’s political intentions and the key points he wanted his viewers to note within the image. Published as a pair, Gardner used his text to contextualize his images and inform the way we perceive them. This is clearly illustrated in “A Harvest of Death” and its accompanying passage.
Emily Carr is one of the most recognizable and celebrated Canadian artists. Her art embodies the fusion of modernist European techniques with a uniquely Canadian subject matter. Although troubled as a woman, Emily Carr became a progressive Canadian artist because of her unprecedented use of modernist styles in a Canadian setting. To explore her painting style first I will examine her role as a woman in the art world. Secondly, I will analyze her artistic inspiration from modernist movements. Thirdly, I will explore how her consistent subject matter of landscapes and indigenous culture. Together, these elements combine to make Emily Carr a distinctive painter in Canada.
standards of art and its views on social roles” (Hamilton, 114). White Western society plays the
The tensions between an art that referred to people’s social conditions and an art that transcended race and class politics are represented by the works of two artists active during the 1860s and 1870s: sculptor Mary Edmonia Lewis and landscape painter Robert S. Duncanson.
Similarly, in the introduction, Broun stated that the show dealt with issues that “America still struggles with today” while Truettner stated “Today, a century after America's creation myth was ushered into the world, we struggle with its inadequacies and insensitivities," indicating that the exhibition was indeed making a comment on contemporary society. This opened up a powerful line of attack against the curators in the comment book with one guest writing, “It is ironic that an exhibit which accuses all American frontier art as being the lowest form of false propaganda should itself resort to propaganda of the most obvious, most popular kind.” (in footnotes another accused the curators of doig exactly what they accused the artists of doing) The historian Thomas Vale mounted a similar criticism, wondering “what ‘hidden agenda’s’ lurk in conscious or subconscious minds of the writers” if one were to apply the same scepticism TWAA applied to Western artists. Vale concludes that, much like the artists, the writers were simply reflecting the social concerns of their times. As displayed throughout this dissertation, this was very much the case and had the curators acknowledged this, they may have staved off some of the criticism,