American Art History

By Vanessa Nguyen

Art Schools

Hudson River School - (1825-1875) This was a group of painters whose work reflected their pride of American landscape. The second generation of this school were “luminist artist” because of their usage of art

Rocky Mountain School - (1858-1900) These were western artists who painted the frontier experience and the Rocky Mountains. They are similar to the painters of the Hudson River School because they also painted landscape. The frontier life they depicted in their art included Indian scenes, landscape and army life.

American Impressionism

American Impressionism began in the late nineteenth century. A characteristic of Impressionism is the objective to visual reality in terms of transient effects of light and color. This is Mary Cassatt’s Mother and Child (1886).

The TenThe Ten were a group of 10 American painters who were first

exhibited together in 1898, in New York City, and continued to do so for the next 20 years. The group’s members’ works differed in technique and subject matter from that of artists who participated in the large annual exhibitions of the Society of American Artists and the National Academy of Design. The members hoped to draw public attention to their small, independent group and thereby to their paintings. The members of The Ten were Childe Hassam, John Henry Twachtman, J. Alden Weir, Thomas W. Dewing, Joseph De Camp, Frank W. Benson, Willard Leroy Metcalf, Edmund Charles Tarbell, Robert Reid, and E.E. Simmons. When Twachtman died, in 1902, he was replaced by William Merritt Chase.

Trompe L’oeil Painters

In the paintings, the representation of an object has such verisimilitude as to deceive the viewer concerning the material reality of the object. The object “deceives the eye” because it looks so realistic. This is Raphaelle Peale’s Still Life.

The Eight (The Ashcan School)

Their paintings (1900-1920) realistically depicted daily life in American urban environment, specializing in people on crowded streets and at the park, theaters and entertainment spectacles. The original Eight included Robert Henri, leader of the group, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, Arthur B. Davies, Ernest Lawson, Maurice Prendergast, George Luks, and William J. Glackens. Later the group was joined by George Bellows. This is Robert Henri’s Street Scene.

Dada

This movement started in 1916 as a revolt against World War I. Originating in France, it fostered creativity by rebelling against traditional forms of logic, art and culture. This is Man Ray’s Legend (1916).

Futurism/Cubism

Futurist/Cubist painting (1909) was mainly a European movement. A few American painters attemted to show pace and movement of American cities with fractured prisms of light. This is Picasso’s Girl with Dark Hair.

Photo Secession

This movement (1905-1917) was headed by photographer Alfred Stielglitz. In 1902 he became one of the founders of the Photo-Secession, a group of talented avant-garde artists. He also founded and directed the Photo-Secession Gallery, also known as Gallery 291, which exhibited not only the work of contemporary photographers, but also works of Picasso, Rodin, Matisse and Toulouse-Lautrec.

Art Deco

Art deco was a product of the fertile artistic exchange between Paris, France, and New York City that occurred after World War I (1914-1918). Art deco is characterized by sleek, streamlined forms; geometric patterns; and experiments with industrial materials such as metals, plastics, and glass. Art Deco influenced American architecture evident in New York City's skyscrapers of the 1920-1930s like the Chrysler, Daily News, and Empire State buildings. This is Rockwell Kent’s Workers of the World, Unite.

Precisionism

Precisionism was a style of early twentieth century painting in which depicted scenes-- many of industrial architecture-- or objects. Precisionists typically depicted mechanical and industrial subject matter, such as smokestacks, steel foundries, or grain elevators. These subjects were usually reduced or simplified to geometric forms and rendered in bright and clear light, by a combination of abstraction and realism. This is Charles Demuth’s Figure 5 in Gold, 1928.

American Scene Painting

American Scene painting describes scenes of typical American life painted c.1920-c.1942. Much of this work is also included within Regionalism and Social Realism. Born in the aftermath of World War I, American Scene painting developed partly as an outgrowth of the Ashcan school, and partly as a reaction to French modernism. This movement came from interest in celebrating the democratic ideals of America by promoting subject-matter accessible to the masses. This is Mabel Dwight Railway Station, 1935.

The Harlem Renaissance

During the (1919-1929) Harlem Renaissance, African American artists in all art forms received recognition. Many young African American artists were recruited to paint murals by the government during the depression. This is William H. Johnson’s Swing Low Sweet Chariot.

Social Realism

Social Realism is a form of naturalistic realism focusing specifically on social problems and the hardships of everyday life. The term most commonly refers to the urban American Scene artists of the Depression era, who were greatly influenced by the Ashcan School of early 20th century New York City. This Luke Fildes’ Applicants for Admission to a Casual Ward.

Abstract Expressionism

Abstract Expressionism, movement in mid-20th-century painting that was primarily concerned with the spontaneous assertion of the individual through the act of painting. The movement contains a variety of styles and is characterized more by the concepts behind the art than by a specific look. This is de Kooning's Marilyn Monroe.

Hard-Edge

With the creation of polymer paints, new techniques were possible in 1958-1960’s. Artists started to apply masking tape to canvas in order to make straight edges. Hard-egde referred to brightly colored geometric paintings where colors didn’t blend into each other, but were next to each other. This is William DeKoornbolt’s

Indigo Dancing.

Color Field Painting

In Color Field Paintings (1960) large printed canvases were stained with acrylic paints without use of strong tonal contrasts or visible brushstrokes. The paintings usually involved few colors. This is Milton Avery’s Pitcher Painter.

Pop Art

Pop Art (1945-1965) reacted to the emotional quality of Abstract Expressionism through the use of banal consumer products as themes. The techniques were often direct copies of advertising techniques such as the Benday dot, or comic book styles. This is Andy Worhol’s Marilyn, 1964.

Conceptual Art

Conceptual Art (1970 to present) is more an idea of art than it is actual artwork. Sometimes it is writen or drawn, but not always executed. The location of the artwork is sometimes in the mind of the viewer. This is Man Ray’s Palais.

Photorealism and Hyperrealism

These 1967-1977 artists used the everyday environment for their subjects as seen through the eye of a camera. Photorealists tended to specialize, one doing signs, another faces, and so on. This is Olga Antonova’s

Still Life with Tangerine .

Earth Art

Earth Art (1968 to present day) began when artist used a new medium (piles of rocks or dirt). Materials might be shaped by chance (heap of sand) or by an artist. This is Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty

Feminist Art

This movement started in the late 1960’s. Women artists combined female subjects with female objects such as quilts, fibers, and ceramics to make a statement about feminism. This is Audrey Flack’s Hannah.

The end.