Nocturne: Night in American Art, 1890-1917A beautifully illustrated look at the vogue for night landscapes amid the social, political, and technological changes of modern America The turn of the 20th century witnessed a surge in the creation and popularity of nocturnes and night landscapes in American art. In this original and thought-provoking book, Hélène Valance investigates why artists and viewers of the era were so captivated by the night. Nocturne examines works by artists such as James McNeill Whistler, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, Frederic Remington, Edward Steichen, and Henry Ossawa Tanner through the lens of the scientific developments and social issues that dominated the period. Valance argues that the success of the genre is connected to the resonance between the night and the many forces that affected the era, including technological advances that expanded the realm of the visible, such as electric lighting and photography; Jim Crow-era race relations; America's closing frontier and imperialism abroad; and growing anxiety about identity and social values amid rapid urbanization. This absorbing study features 150 illustrations encompassing paintings, photographs, prints, scientific illustration, advertising, and popular media to explore the predilection for night imagery as a sign of the times. |
Contents
part i | 17 |
Vision Questioned | 33 |
The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical | 50 |
Visions of the Mind and Spirit | 69 |
part ii | 87 |
Nostalgic Reminiscence | 111 |
The Nocturne | 132 |
The Figure in the Urban | 168 |
The Urban Nocturne and the Redenition | 187 |
Conclusion 205 | 204 |
| 228 | |
Illustration Credits | 243 |
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Common terms and phrases
aesthetic African ambiguous American American Art appear artists became become beholder buildings called Camera century Charles Chicago civilization Collection color considered context contrast critics crowd culture darkness depicted dierent electric environment example Exposition eect fact fairs Gallery gaze George gure Henry Homer human identity illustration Indian individual interpretation invisible James John landscape late light living Magazine March marked means movement Museum nature night nineteenth century nocturne Oil on canvas opened painter painting particular photograph picture play practice presence Prints produced published question race reality relations remained Remington representation represented revealed reected scene scientic Searchlight seems sense shadow shows silhouette social society space street suggests symbolic takes Tanner tion turn United University Press urban vanishing visible vision visual Washington West Whistler women York young