Anchorage Public Library >> Picturing America >> Art
"Picturing America" - December 2008 at Anchorage Public Library...
The following images were featured at Z. J. Loussac and Muldoon Branch Libraries during the month of December, 2008. Click on the "resources" link for each image to locate books and websites about American history and other related topics that connect with these works.
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Grant Wood, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, 1931
Wanting to preserve truly American art styles, Grant Wood used a folk style to portray the past in this painting. Captivated by Paul Revere's ride as a child, Woods portrayed New England as a child would perceive the scene. Paul Revere's trusty steed is a rocking horse, and the perfect green spheres represent trees as a young child would paint. This playful painting casts a magical spell over a familiar historical event.
How did the artist emphasize the church that was the center of communities in colonial times? How did the artist show that Paul Revere was on an urgent mission?
The church is the largest and brightest building. Mr. Revere rides forward on his horse and the horse’s tail and legs are outstretched.
Grant Wood (American, 1892–1942), The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, 1931. Oil on Masonite; H. 30, W. 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1950 (50.117) Photograph © 1988 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Art © Estate of Grant Wood / Licensed by VAGA, New York.
Thomas Cole, View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm - The Oxbow, 1836
Thomas Cole created an artful exploration of an idealized rural America. Cole originally created this scene for the large urban market that wanted landscape paintings. The artist used a technique from the panoramic style where he revealed many sections or scenes across this six-foot canvas. The mountain is rugged and wild with a thunderstorm while the farmland is peacefully displayed after the storm with a golden light.
Can you find the following objects: an umbrella, Thomas Cole, lightning, birds, and smoke?
The umbrella is low center leaning over the river. Mr. Cole is lower center between the rocks. Lightning is in the far left center. The birds are on the edge of the storm. Smoke is visible in many areas on the right side of the painting.
Thomas Cole (American, born England, 1801–1848), View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm - The Oxbow, 1836. Oil on canvas; 51 1/2 x 76 in. (130.8 x 193 cm): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Russell Sage, 1908 (08.228) Image © 1995 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
John James Audubon; Robert Havell, American Flamingo, 1838
Between 1826 and 1838, John James Audubon produced the four-volume catalogue Birds of America, containing 435 hand-colored engravings of North American birds, including the picture American Flamingo. Some objected to the publication's depiction of birds in their natural environment as being overly dramatic. However, these pictures make Audubon's catalog an important piece of American art and ornithological study. Audubon portrayed each bird as close as possible to its actual size and at eye level.
Why do you think Mr. Audubon painted life-size birds? Why was the flamingo positioned with its neck curved down?
He wanted people to understand the actual size of the subject and see the details of their bodies. With the neck bent down the large bird fits in the picture. It also shows how the flamingo fed in its marshland habitat.
John James Audubon (1785-1851). Robert Havell (1793-1878), Engraver after John James Audubon. American Flamingo, 1838. Hand-colored etching and aquatint on Whatman paper, from 'The Birds of America' (plate CCCCXXX1). Plate: 97 x 65 cm (38 3/16 x 25 9/16 in.) sheet: 101.28 x 68.26 cm (39 7/8 x 26 7/8 in.) Gift of Mrs. Walter B. James, 1945. 8.431. Image courtesy of the Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Albert Bierstadt, Looking Down Yosemite Valley, California, 1865
Albert Bierstadt painted Looking Down Yosemite Valley, California in 1864-1865. The painting expressed Bierstadt's sense of wonder at the first sight of the mountain landscape. The large canvas and panoramic view down the mountain was designed to draw the eye of the viewer into the painting. Bierstadt understood what his audience wanted to see about the west, a frontier untouched by the civil war and promising a new beginning.
How has Bierstadt created the illusion of great distance? How does the light add drama to the painting?
He used the aerial perspective approach where the objects in the foreground are larger and more detailed than those in the distance. The light adds shadow and contrast that gives the painting a romantic and spiritual feel.
Albert Bierstadt (American, 1830–1902), Looking Down Yosemite Valley, California, 1865. (Accession no. 1991.879) Oil on canvas, 64 1/2 x 96 1/2 in. (163.83 x 245.11 cm.). Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Ala.; Gift of the Birmingham Public Library.
Louis Comfort Tiffany, Autumn Landscape, 1923-1924
Trained as a painter, Louis Comfort Tiffany channeled his artistic talent into decorative arts. With a resurgence of stained glass windows for churches, the medium transitioned to landscape designs for affluent homes. Tiffany used textured glass to mimic the textures used in paintings. He used mottled glass for dark sky, confetti glass for foliage, marbleized glass for boulders, rippled glass in the closest pools and layers of glass to intensify colors. Originally commissioned to brighten the landing of a mansion in Boston, Autumn Landscape was sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where everyone could view.
Where did Tiffany repeat colors in the window? How would the glass in this window feel?
Red is in the trees at the top left and bottom right. Blues are used for the sky, mountains and water. Green is used in the central pond, the tree center left and in the golden tree on the center right. The glass would be rough, bumpy or smooth, depending on the glass used in an area.
Louis Comfort Tiffany (American: 1848–1933), Autumn Landscape, 1923–1924, Tiffany Studios (1902–1938), Leaded Favrile-glass window: 11 ft. x 8 ft. 6 in. (335.3 x 259.1 cm): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Robert W. de Forest, 1925 (25.173) Photograph © 1997 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
