art and architecture in the colonial period mrs. elizabeth freake and baby mary by unknown american...
TRANSCRIPT
Art and Architecture in the Colonial Period
Mrs. Elizabeth Freake and Baby Mary by Unknown American Painter; Late 17th century;
Corbis.com
2
Intro: Why study art/architecture of early America?
• Not pioneering with no “great” artists
• Art is useful as a mirror of (especially regional”) culture
3
What influenced art in early America?
• European Art – Elizabethan/Jacobean England
• French courtly art (especially in South)
• Regional cultures
Map of the 13 Original American ColoniesOriginal caption: Map of the Thirteen Original American Colonies. Undated. © Bettmann/CORBIS
4
New England: Cultural influences
• Art influenced by their embrace of strict Protestantism & rejection of all things Catholic
• Led to an emphasis on the literary over the visual in churches/homes
Christopher Cormack Interior of Salisbury Cathedral, Englandca. 1970-1997Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury, England
5
New England: ArchitectureReligious:
• Did not want to idolize churches so built them to mimic homes
Ex.: Old Ship Meeting House in Hingham, Mass.
• Lack of decoration
• Interior meant to discourage ceremony
6
New England: ArchitectureDomestic (Homes):
• Simple, often in style of English village home
Ex : Parson Capen House
• Community built minister’s house = symbol of his power
• Medieval framing and design
Anonymous. Parson Capen House. The Kidder Smith Images Project, MIT.
http://libraries.mit.edu/rvc/kidder/photos/MA65.html
7
New England: PortraitsReligious Influences:
• Religious art in churches seen as worshiping idols (perceived as Catholic)
Portraits in homes were ok
• Calvinist belief that success was a sign of God’s approval for your hard work
• Purchase of pious art was a way to reconcile wealth with faith
Raphael. Madonna of the Goldfinch. 1506. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.
Summerfield Press/Corbis.
8
New England: Portraits2. Secular Influences:
1. Elizabethan/Jacobean portraits
•Shallow (even though 3d art did exist)
•Detailed
2. Lack of trained artisans or large market for art:
•Limners –portraitists who had to also painted practical things like signs to support selves
Queen Elizabeth I in Coronation Robes English School Painting; ca. 1559 ; Bridgeman Art Library & The Gallery Collection/Corbis
9
New England: PortraitsEx 1: John & Elizabeth
Freake
John
• Extravagant clothing shows his prosperity/piety
• Hair length is a compromise between long (decadence/royalism) and short (lower class)
ANONYMOUS ARTIST. John Freake. late 17th century. Worchester Art Museum. http://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/American/1963.134.html
10
New England: PortraitsEx 1: John & Elizabeth Freake
B. Elizabeth
• Clothing from many parts of the world shows off wealth/success (and from Calvinist perspective, piety)
Mrs. Elizabeth Freake and Baby Mary by Unknown American Painter; Late 17th century;
Corbis.com
11
New England: PortraitsEx 2: Thomas Smith
self portrait
Intent
• Show religious and commercial life are compatible
• Shows his literacy , success, piety
Thomas Smith. Self Portrait. 1680. Worchester Art Museum.
http://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/Early_American/Artists/smith/biography/index.html
12
New England: GravestonesOnly sculpture found in
New England (also found elsewhere)
Intent:
• Teach the living lessons about death and how temporary life’s achievements are
Carved Colonial Gravestone. © Kevin Fleming/CORBIS. Photographer. September 1995. Copp's Hill Burying Ground,
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
13
New England: GravestonesCommon Elements
• Winged skull (human mortality)
• Hourglasses (time)
• Cherubs (spiritual rebirth and everlasting life)
• Doorway shape (doorway into human souls)
Tombstone at Copps Hill Burial Ground© Lee Snider/Photo Images/CORBISca. 1978-1996. Copps Hill Burial Ground, North End, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
14
Thinking Slide:
Do not write! Discuss with your neighbor and be prepared to share with class.
Were Puritan patrons of art true to their values or hypocrites?
15
Middle Colonies: Cultural Influences
More diverse cultural influences, varied from place to place
• Many carried folk art over from their native countries (Ex. Germany)
• Dutch had many biblical paintings in homes
16
Southern Colonies: Cultural Influences
• Society based on hierarchy (who is above who)
• Art often meant to show the high status and class of southern elites
Bacon's Rebellion. Governor Berkeley and the Insurgents.Bettmann/CORBISVirginia, USA
17
Southern Colonies: ArchitectureChurches
Money given to churches meant to show aristocracy of donors
Ex. Robert “King” Carter’s Christchurch
• Had high pews so “better” families not observed/disturbed while in church
Carter Pew. Christ Church. 1735. Lancaster, VA.
http://www.christchurch1735.org/architecture/carter_pew.html
18
Southern Colonies: ArchitectureHomes
Patterned on English manor homes or government buildings
Ex1. Bacon’s Castle in Surrey Virginia (1665)
Bacon's Castle. © Lee Snider/Photo Images/CORBISca. 1996. Surry County, Virginia, USA
19
Southern Colonies: ArchitectureHomes
Ex2. Drayton Hall
• Renaissance Villa intended as a display of luxury
• Copying the habits of the English aristocracy
Drayton Hall. © Nik Wheeler/Corbis. 1738-1742. near Charleston, South Carolina, USA
20
Southern Colonies: PortraitsMeant to show wealth,
status, gentility
Ex1. Henry Darnell III
• Boy’s status as master of land and people (slaves) reinforced
• More wealth/status through clothing, gardens, bow & arrow
Justus Englehardt Kühn. Henry Darnall III, c. 1710. Maryland
Historical Society. http://www.marylandartsource.org/ar
tists/detail_000000071.html
21
John Singleton Copley Portraits
Very popular in ALL colonial regions
22
renowned American portrait artistfamous and “not so famous” Gilbert Stuart
23
24
Southern Colonies: Portraits3. Ex2. Colonel Samuel
and Mary Prioleau
• Shows not only wealth, but class (associations with French court)
• Compare with Freake’s (less detail, light backgrounds, use of pastels in style of French court paintings)
• Mary’s clothing (scandalous!)
Henriette Deering Johnston, Colonel Samuel Prioleau, Mrs. Samuel
Prioleau, 1715,Pastel on Paper, Museum of Early Southern
Decorative Arts, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
25
Thinking Slide:
Do not write! Discuss with your neighbor and be prepared to share with class.
Is the art of the Southern aristocracy more about their security in their social/class position or their insecurity?
26
Changes in the (near) Future1. Architecture:
New England churches have less community power as Mass. becomes a royal colony
Still retain some elements, but gain steeples and towers in contradictions of old traditions
• Ex. Old South Meetinghouse
Old South meetinghouse. http://www.nps.gov/bost/histo
ryculture/osmh.htm
27
Changes in the Future2. Art:
Colonies grow wealthy, leads to worldliness, demand for English culture as sign of wealth
Climate becomes more liberal for displays of wealth and art becomes more naturalistic
• Ex. Copely’s Revere
Paul Revere1768John Singleton Copley, American, 1738–1815. Museum of Fine Arts Boston. http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?recview=true&id=32401&coll_keywords=revere+and+copley&coll_accession=&coll_name=&coll_artist=&coll_place=&coll_medium=&coll_culture=&coll_classification=&coll_credit=&coll_provenance=&coll_location=&coll_has_images=&coll_on_view=&coll_sort=0&coll_sort_order=0&coll_view=0&coll_package=0&coll_start=1
Originals/Individuals in Colonial America
28
29
Thinking Slide:
Do not write! Discuss with your neighbor and be prepared to share with class.
Does art play the same function today in our society as it did in either New England or the South?