Anchorage Public Library >> Picturing America >> Art
"Picturing America" - October 2008 at Anchorage Public Library...
The following images were featured at Z. J. Loussac and Muldoon Branch Libraries during the month of October, 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 of art.
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Various Artists, Mission Nuestra Señora de la Concepción de Acuña, San Antonio, Texas, 1755
This set of images shows the Mission today and a 1930's water color of how the mission originally looked. The Spanish built many missions in the Texas area as a barrier against French expansion. The missions were also the area where Native Americans and Europeans interacted.
What was the original function of the two towers on the front of the church?
They were bell towers used to call the community together.
Ernst F. Schuchard (1893–1972). Mission Concepción, fresco details of façade 1932. Watercolor on paper, 17 1/2 x 17 in. (45 x 44 cm.) in frame. Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library. Ernst F. Schuchard papers, Gift of Mrs. Ernst F. Schuchard and daughters in memory of Ernst F. Schuchard.
Convento and church at dusk. San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, Texas. © George H. H. Huey.
Detail. "Eye of God" decoration on ceiling of the library. San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, Texas. © George H. H. Huey.
N. C. Wyeth, The Last of the Mohicans, cover illustration, 1919
The author of The Last of the Mohicans, James Fenimore Cooper, admitted that he never spent time with Native Americans. N.C. Wyeth did not spend time with Native Americans for this painting but did live off the land to learn how the Mohicans lived. He used Cooper's description of Uncas from The Last of the Mohicans for his brave. Wyeth portrays the brave with pre-colonial weaponry and clothing. Wyeth used the ideology of the early 1900's in portraying how Native Americans dressed. Though historically inaccurate this is a powerful painting of a noble people.
How does the painting emphasize the form of this warrior?
He is large and dark against a light background, outlined in black and surrounded by clouds.
N. C. Wyeth (1882–1945). Last of the Mohicans, cover illustration, 1919. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Brandywine River Museum. Anonymous gift, 1981. Reprinted with the permission of Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division from Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth. Illustrations © 1919 Charles Scribner’s Sons; copyright renewed 1947 Carolyn B. Wyeth.
George Catlin, Catlin Painting the Portrait of Mah-to-toh-pa — Mandan, 1861/1869
In his notes for the painting, of Mah-to-toh-pa, George Catlin enhanced the dress for the chief to give "grace and simplicity of the figure." Mah-to-toh-pa came attired for the event in full buffalo skin robe and arrived carrying many weapons. It is thought that Catlin left these "implements of war out of the picture as he did not want the work to appear threatening to a white audience." The painting has two foci Chief Mah-to-toh-pa and George Catlin. The onlookers appear "aghast" at Catlin’s skill in capturing the sitter's spirit. Catlin’s painting and notes preserved some of the culture of this Mandan tribe that perished from smallpox in 1837.
Can you find two dogs, the artists and his easel, a quiver, and five horses in the picture?
The two dogs are in the center front, the artist and easel are in the center, the quiver is on the back of the reclining brave in the front left, and the five horses are in the back ground.
George Catlin (American, 1796–1872), Catlin Painting the Portrait of Mah-to-toh-pa — Mandan, 1861/1869. Oil on card mounted on paperboard, 18 1/2 x 24 in. (47 x 62.3 cm.). Paul Mellon Collection. Image courtesy of the Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Black Hawk, "Sans Arc Lakota" Ledger Book, 1880–1881
During the harsh winter of 1880-1881, Black Hawk, a spiritual leader for the Sans Arc division of the Lakota, was paid 50 cents a drawing to record his vision dreams. Black Hawk followed the traditional style that Lakota men painted on their teepees and buffalo hide robes. The first drawing is an image of Crow warriors even though they were the enemy of the Lakota. Black Hawk shows great detail in the portrayal of the braves. The horse shoe shape on the central figures shows they were skilled in battle. In the second drawing, Black Hawk shows a social dance of Lakota men and women. The men have feathers in their hair and the women have painted the part in their hair. Beaded belts, shell jewelry, beaded bags, and strips with brass buttons adorn the dancers. The dress of the fourth figure from the right is decorated along the top with ivory elk teeth; this would have been an expensive dress to have.
What are the people doing in these pictures? Can you see a pattern that matches the rhythm of a drum beat?
The top picture show braves in a procession. The lower picture is of men and women are dancing. The rhythm can be found in the hair and clothing of the figures. The long dresses, colored hair parts and the belts on the women alternate rhythmically with the feathered hair and shorter robes of the men.
Black Hawk (c. 1832–1890), "Sans Arc Lakota" Ledger Book (plate no.18), 1880–1881. Pen, ink, and pencil on paper, 9 1/2 x 15 1/2 in. (24.13 x 39.4 cm.). Entire book: 10 1/4 x 16 1/2 x 1 3/4 in; width with book opened: 33 1/2 in. T614; Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y. Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, New York.
Black Hawk (c. 1832–1890), "Sans-Arc Lakota" Ledger Book (plate no.3), 1880–1881. Pen, ink, and pencil on paper, 9 1/2 x 15 1/2 in. (24.13 x 39.4 cm.). Entire book: 10 1/4 x 16 1/2 x 1 3/4 in; width with book opened: 33 1/2 in. T614; Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y. Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, New York.
