Preview

What Is The People In The Picture To Illustrate American History?

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
248 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Is The People In The Picture To Illustrate American History?
The best teachers of Western Civilization courses have long made use of the European fine arts—painting, sculpture, architecture, the decorative arts—to bring the subject alive to their students. It is perhaps less well recognized that there are many wonderful works of art that can illustrate American history as well. The most rewarding paintings and prints not only make historical events visible but provide students with plenty to talk about. What does the picture tell us about people’s lives, customs, family relationships, and technology? What is the artist’s perspective on the people or actions in the picture? Which of the people in the picture does the artist sympathize with? What do you think the people shown in the painting are saying? Why are certain people in the center of the painting and others on the margin? …show more content…
They provide us with contemporary images even for historical times before the invention of photography, with the added interest that the painter created the scene to depict people and objects exactly as he or she chose, so we can ask why these choices were made. Genre paintings are certainly not the only kind of paintings useful in studying history, but they have a particular interest for students and teachers, and in this essay I want to show how they can enhance our presentation of the American past. The paintings listed below were all part of the Metropolitan Museum’s
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Dorothea Lange: A Brief Analysis Of The Film, Dorothea Lange
    • 166 Words
    • 1 Page

    Dorothea Lange: A Brief Analysis Of The Film, Dorothea Lange

    The artist’s purpose in putting this picture in the public form is trying to get across the modern-day American what life was like during these times. People can read books or watch movies about the time, but there is no way to really get an accurate representation of the time without a photograph from that time.…

    • 166 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Joshua MacAnespie Art History Course Project
    • 1484 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Joshua MacAnespie Art History Course Project

    In this project, you will create and deliver a presentation to demonstrate an understanding of how works of art reflect the culture, politics, religion, and artistic movements of the times in which the artists created them.…

    • 1484 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Arts painting reflection BobbyByron
    • 754 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Arts painting reflection BobbyByron

    Visit a local art museum, or search the Internet for images of paintings created from the 1920s to the present day. Insert an image of each painting into this assignment, and cite each image consistent with APA guidelines. Reflect on the paintings related to the social and cultural events taking place at the time, and answer the following questions. Each response must be between 50 and 100 words.…

    • 754 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Abstract Expressionist Movement Analysis
    • 188 Words
    • 1 Page

    Abstract Expressionist Movement Analysis

    In the years following World War II, the United States enjoyed an unprecedented economic and political boom. Amidst this growth, many artists and intellectuals had emigrated from Europe to the United States, bringing with them their own traditions and ideas, giving rise to the the Abstract Expressionist movement. Artists including Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko, sought to express emotions and individual feelings, and personified this through their diverse bodies of work by exploring new ways to reinvigorate and reinvent their medium of painting. Thus embodying a distinctly ‘individual - American’* element of confidence and creativity, so much that it was sponsored by the CIA because it could be held up as proof of the…

    • 188 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Personification In Lincoln's Inaugural Address
    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Personification In Lincoln's Inaugural Address

    Over the centuries, presidents have influenced sense if security for their citizens as they strive for a positive future towards America’s base. Many as Abraham Lincoln cared to “bind up the nation’s wounds” especially after the battle for civil rights. Personification can be referred to as a description of the post war society as it implies the country needing a fix with an appeal of ethos. A message of optimism is therefore sent to convey the presence of aspiration in Lincoln’s mind, even in a time of division and sorrow. Credibility of Lincoln is to be tinkered with as he claims such with determination seen to be deemed relevant for advancement. Art also represented for a nearby time as George Washington crossing the Delaware may also convey hope with a contrast of light to dark. As it seems to adjust the subjects closer towards the light a symbolism is used for the bright shade to represent goodness and escape from hardship. It in this way appeals of emotion or pathos with vulnerability. George Washington ability to preserve the nation despite the extreme conditions shows an exemplary mindset of resilience and stability in his stride for a future. Nevertheless, it’s susceptible to fall into a belief in downfall and constant bondage, but with a simple positive outlook those hardships may…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    American Art Project
    • 2762 Words
    • 8 Pages

    American Art Project

    It is believable that John Vanderlyn, in his painting Landing of Columbus, was trying to portray the success of Columbus and his crew. Columbus heroic stance and elegant expression are made all the more impressive in comparison to the native people who witness the event. The Native Americans are naked, fearful or subservient, bowing down before the explorer in awe and reverence. The symbols of empire are shown in the heroic explorer with his Christian crosses and steel swords symbolizing the significance in the power of civilization. In 1836 of June, Congress had commissioned John Vanderlyn to paint the Landing of Columbus. About eleven years later the painting was hung in the Rotunda by January 1847. Expansion was an overwhelming preoccupation in nineteenth-century America, but it was by no means the only cultural preoccupation. The subject of the painting, foregrounding the ambiguous meeting of two cultures, provided a space for artists to work out many central issues, for example, how to reconcile Indian Removal with notions of the Noble Savage. Another way is how to remake a country torn apart by sectional strife. The following settlements and expansions span the period from 1835 to 1912. Americans had a chaotic eighty-year period that witnessed the filling of Americas geographical borders, the bloody anguish of the Civil War, the horror of slavery in America, the overthrow of Native peoples, and many more events pertaining to the expansion. Vanderlyns painting contains images of contact between European explorers and Native Americans. He clearly shows a representation of what many of the settlements contained and how frightened the Natives were.…

    • 2762 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Cultural Change and Shifting Views of America
    • 1588 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Cultural Change and Shifting Views of America

    References: Doss, E. (2002, April). Oxford History of Art: Twentieth-Century American Art. Cary, NC, USA: OUP Oxford. Retrieved from ebrary, 289…

    • 1588 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Dorothea Lange
    • 1446 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Dorothea Lange

    THE COLLECTION. Photograph. Metropolitan Museum, New York. MoMA.org. By Dorothea Lange. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=3373…

    • 1446 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Who Is Considered an American?
    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Who Is Considered an American?

    Robert Frank, a Jewish photographer, was born in Switzerland. He plays an important role in the photography field because of his most famous work The Americans, which was published in 1958. His unique and fresh outsider’s view of American society received criticism in the U.S when the book first came out. The reason is that the Frank’s photographs are unlike other photographic essays, which portray Americans in a positive way instead it demonstrates the idea of Americans by taking the violent and desolated photos. Criticism aside, in order to make a fair judgment, we will analyze specifically the photos from the Frank exhibit, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The exhibition features all 83 photos picked by Frank from the 28,000 shots, which he took during a road trip between 1955 and 1956. The work is divided into four sections. The first section shows different comparisons such as politicians to civilians, White to blacl,and rich to poor. The first photo in the first section titled “Parade—Hoboken, New Jersey” shows two windows: above them is an American flag and two women look out from the window. It is definitely not showing a parade, but rather Frank ironically portrays the idea of sadness and isolation. In the second section, Frank is more focused on the social and economical inequality. For example, the photograph in the second section titled “Trolley— New Orleans” shows the passengers in the…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Arts and the 1960s
    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Arts and the 1960s

    A complex and unclear question throughout the late 20th century and today is did the arts change history or do the arts reflect the changes that are taking place in society? It is a difficult question to answer since art and music have become so increasingly popular over the past 50 years. Also, for this question, no one’s opinion was exactly one and the same. Music and the arts had such a widespread influence on our nation over such a small period of time; it seemed as if it was sometimes hard to comprehend. Art in general became such a talked about subject during the post-WWII years and especially during the American involvement of Vietnam. During these years, and for many to come, art shaped our society in a way that the American people have never seen before. Art gave the American people a great form of expression starting in the 1950s and still plays a major role in our country today. Art had a major influence on the United States during the post-WWII years and that is the reason art changed American history.…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    American Indian Smithsonian Museum
    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages

    American Indian Smithsonian Museum

    The second floor of National Museum of the American Indian contains many interesting exhibits that tell stories of American Indians, such as the livelihood of Native Americans in the present time and the culture of American Indians. There are many items that are related to American Indians’ lives in those exhibits. However, the author of this essay is interested in The American Indian which is the name of an oil painting that has been depicted in one of those exhibits, Our Live. This oil painting was painted on linen in 1970 by Fritz Scholder who was the renowned Native American artist of the 20th century. The painting depicts an American Indian man who beautifies his long black hair with a feather and holds a pipe tomahawk in front of the yellow and brown background. Additionally, the man covers the American flag over his body.…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    American History Textbook Analysis
    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages

    American History Textbook Analysis

    In the article, Pictures Have Now Become a Necessity: The Use of Images in American History Textbooks, Masur states that “marketing experts understand that students today are visually aware in ways different from previous generations” (1409). This statement shows that students today have different tastes when it comes to visualizing a concept. FitzGerald discussed how the images she had in her textbook were images from the time period being discussed, meanwhile more current textbooks had images that were more modern and graphic. FitzGerald commented about a picture from a more current textbook “…ancient children with deformed bodies and blackened faces who stare stupidly out from the entrance to a mine” (788). Figure 1 below, shows a picture like the one FitzGerald described. She uses this statement as she explains how some images are presented in more current history books. Her concern with images such as the one described, is that it shows how unpleasant American history is coming across. For a younger class, images that are seemingly unpleasant should not be shown, but for older classes, showing more graphic images may be the best way to keep or get a student’s attention about the…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Impact of War on Art
    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Impact of War on Art

    The three painting I will discuss in this essay are Memories of a Civil War painted by Earnest Meissonier in 1849, Third of May 1808 painted by Francisco de Goya in 1814, and Liberty Leading the People painted by Eugene Delacroix in 1830. Even though all three painting are done in different styles the messages remain the same. All three paintings depict the brutalities of war.…

    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The French Painter Edouard Manet
    • 2835 Words
    • 12 Pages

    The French Painter Edouard Manet

    The dramatically direct approach employed by French painter Edouard Manet (1832-83) started a revolution in the art world and served as a source of inspiration to other artists, most notably the Impressionists.…

    • 2835 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Immortal Artist
    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Immortal Artist

    The visual Arts students at The North Carolina School of the Arts have utilized this knowledge in such a way so that their class has remained immortal. As a class, the class of 1986, the students composed a mural. Dr. Chaplin created the mural and gave each student a representation. He managed to re-create an image of each student through regenerating his or her image from a photograph. The canvas is divided into eighteen individual and distinct sections. Each section is devoted to one student picture or figure, and their mood or feelings in which they wanted to portray.…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics