Art and Architecture in the Colonial Period

Mrs. Elizabeth Freake and Baby Mary by Unknown American Painter; Late 17th century;

Corbis.com

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Intro: Why study art/architecture of early America?

• Not pioneering with no “great” artists

• Art is useful as a mirror of (especially regional”) culture

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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?

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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John Singleton Copley Portraits

Very popular in ALL colonial regions

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renowned American portrait artistfamous and “not so famous” Gilbert Stuart

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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

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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?

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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

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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

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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?