Artistic Expression in 18th and 19th Century America

Artistic Expression in 18th and 19th Century America

The first settlers in the New World faced unpredictable hardships. The men of the Virginia colony had enough trouble learning to live off the land, let alone having to defend themselves from native attacks. Famine proved to be a hard obstacle to conquer for all of the new colonies. New England, while having a more suitable climate for the prevention of diseases, also had its conflicts with local tribes. The Puritan ideals of New England were very strict especially in regard to private indulgences, including art. The only type of art that was "acceptable", were portraits, almost exclusively of upper class citizens and clergy. Through the years leading up to the revolution, however, as the population became diversified, new ideas started to influence popular thought. There were many different cultures coexisting as well as different social classes. However, as was the standard in Europe, only the upper class people were part of the "art world".

Look at paintings from the per revolutionary era, including The Mason Children: David, Joanna, Abigail, (unknown artist), Hanna Minot Moody (Joseph Badger), New England Merchant (Charles W. Peale), Portrait of Elizabeth, The Artist's Daughter (John Singleton Copley), we notice many similarities among them. As stated previously, they are all portraits. All of the subjects are portrayed in very fine clothes and are obviously posing for the painting. Most of these works have little or nothing at all in the background. One gets a very "cold and sterile" feeling when looking at these, and they are most certainly intended not for artistic expression but simply to record the image. "As late as 1800, owing to the limited economy of the Colonies as well as the Puritan’s prejudice against idolatry and their regard for art as a luxury, portraiture was the only accepted form of expression in painting." (Bazin 341).

In the period following the American Revolution up to the turn of the eighteenth century, we start to see some subtle yet significant changes in the popular artwork. We can see a much bolder use of color and background, as in C.W. Peale’s Benjamin and Eleanor Ridgely Laming (1788) and Mather Brown’s Sir Richard Arkwright (1790). Emotion is shown of the faces of the subjects and Ralph Earl showed the Striker Sisters (1787) with their arms around each other and pleasant, happy smiles on their faces. Mr. Peale’s work shows the physical attraction between Benjamin and Eleanor.