American Art to 1900: A Documentary HistorySarah Burns, John Davis From the simple assertion that "words matter" in the study of visual art, this comprehensive but eminently readable volume gathers an extraordinary selection of words—painters and sculptors writing in their diaries, critics responding to a sensational exhibition, groups of artists issuing stylistic manifestos, and poets reflecting on particular works of art. Along with a broad array of canonical texts, Sarah Burns and John Davis have assembled an astonishing variety of unknown, little known, or undervalued documents to convey the story of American art through the many voices of its contemporary practitioners, consumers, and commentators. American Art to 1900 highlights such critically important themes as women artists, African American representation and expression, regional and itinerant artists, Native Americans and the frontier, popular culture and vernacular imagery, institutional history, and more. With its hundreds of explanatory headnotes providing essential context and guidance to readers, this book reveals the documentary riches of American art and its many intersecting histories in unprecedented breadth, depth, and detail. From the simple assertion that "words matter" in the study of visual art, this comprehensive but eminently readable volume gathers an extraordinary selection of words—painters and sculptors writing in their diaries, critics responding to a sensational exh |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 9 | |
| 57 | |
VALUES AND INSTITUTIONS | 175 |
LANDSCAPE LIFE AND SPECTACLE ... | 255 |
PUBLIC ART AND POPULAR ART | 359 |
EXPANDING HORIZONS | 413 |
7 THE 1860s | 473 |
EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS AND EXHIBITIONS ... | 689 |
11 COSMOPOLITAN DIALOGUES | 747 |
12 NEW MEDIA NEW TASTEMAKERS NEW MASSES | 849 |
13 BEAUTY VISION AND MODERNITY | 941 |
14 IMPERIAL AMERICA | 1021 |
Acknowledgments | 1061 |
List of Illustrations | 1063 |
| 1065 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Academy of Design admiration American art American artists Art-Union beauty Benjamin West Boston called canvas character Charles Willson Peale Cole color critic drawing Eastman Johnson effect engravings Europe execution exhibition expression face feel figure French gallery genius give hand head heart history painting Homer hope human idea imagination Indian institution interest John John Singleton Copley John Trumbull landscape landscape art letter light living look means mind mountains National Academy native nature negro never objects painter painting pencil picture picturesque portrait present produce represented Samuel F. B. Morse scene scenery sculpture seems seen sentiment sketch society spirit statue sublime talent taste things Thomas Cole thought tints tion trees true truth ture Washington Washington Allston William William Sidney Mount Winslow Homer York young