American Art: The New World to the Modern World ((4 Credits))

Catalog description

From very humble beginnings in the 17th century, American art ultimately displaced Paris as the center of the art world in the post - WWII era. The course examines the relationship of artists to major historical themes and developments, which means at each juncture we look at the topic from historical and art-historical perspectives. Throughout those years, there were incredible successes, raging controversies, and numerous struggles for dominance, as artists, patrons, critics, and the public made and remade their place in American society. In the 17th century, we explore European influences on painting and architecture, which mostly derive from English and Dutch sources, but then consider the arts in connection to the Triangle Trade and Consumer Revolution. In the 18th century, the Colonies see more immigration from other parts of Europe (German, Scots-Irish, French) and slavery becomes more widespread, which we follow through the 19th century to distinguish between planter culture and what becomes the more industrialized North – all of that influences the artistic tastes and expenditures of peoples in the colonies and states, as do the great variety of political and religious views. From the 19th century through the 20th century, the public is exposed to art through media, public monuments, museums, and exhibitions, and paintings increasingly depicted immigrants, Indians, slaves, as well as people of all classes. Students will consider how artists gradually found a place in American culture, how art became a profession in an evolving nation, and how art influences and is influenced by diverse societies.