Addison Gallery of American Art M U S E U M L E A R N I N G C E N T E R Portfolio Guide: American Identity 1

How does the production and presentation of portraits participate in the shaping of identity?

What can historic and contemporary representations of people tell us about changing American identity?

American identity exists not in a singular portrait or a composite group, but in the consistency - or rupture - of images over time. This Portfolio Guide featuring paintings, photographs, prints, and sculpture from the Addison’s collection offers a sampling of representations of people from varying times, artists, and intentions and of subjects diverse in class, race, context, activity, and social meaning.

Educators are encouraged to use this Guide and the expanded Portfolio Image List as a starting point, a place from which to dig deeper, ask questions, and make new connections for class plans and projects.

For online use, click the images in this guide to access digital images in the Addison’s online database.

S E L E C T E D T H E M A T I C A P P R O A C H E S

Portraiture and Social Status - What can we learn about history, culture, and values from exploring who was - and was not - documented in different time periods?The Impact of Early Photography - What impact did photography have on who and how people expressed their identity through images?The Politics of Cultural Identity - How can images give voice to the identity of a cultural group?Documenting America - How do we understand the distinctions between artistic, documentary, social documentary, and photojournalistic photography?Creating, Reinforcing, Negating Stereotypes - How do images operate to construct or counter stereotypes?Curating Identity - How can historical portraiture be appropriated or transformed by contemporary artists and students to create new identity narratives?

American Identity

This Portfolio Guide contains selected artworks and ideas to connect the Addison’s collection with classroom themes, disciplines, and curricula.

Digital images of works from this Guide can be downloaded from the Addison’s website for use in classrooms. Visits to explore works in the Addison’s Museum Learning Center can be arranged as a complement to the viewing of current exhibitions.

www.addisongallery.org

Addison Gallery of American Art M U S E U M L E A R N I N G C E N T E R Portfolio Guide: American Identity 2

Portraiture and Social StatusHow is status conveyed and/or reinforced through body language, clothing, setting, and composition?

What can we learn about the culture and values of a time period from exploring who did - and did not - have their portrait made before the invention and popularization of photography?

In 17th and 18th century Europe, portraits were the staple of the aristocracy and due to cost and accessibility were not readily available to other classes, a tradition replicated in the United States during the Colonial period. Artistic strategies, such as those employed by the European-trained Benjamin West and John Singleton Copley, followed social conventions which used pose, gaze, clothing, props, setting, and story to project the sitter’s wealth, power, social status, and aspirations.

A rare portrait of socially-established African American Charles Jones utilizes these European American conventions in countering the denigrating caricatured portrayals of blacks made for public consumption during slavery. Thomas Eakins’s post-photographic portrait of Professor Rowland expands the social aspects of portraiture to include the psychological and professional elements of identity in this moody portrait of an important inventor/educator. With its unusual frame, decorated with notes and equations from Rowland’s notebooks, Eakins extends the sitter’s intelligence beyond the picture plane.

A John Singleton Copley (1738- 1815), Mary Elizabeth Martin, 1771, 44 3/4 in. x 39 in., oil on canvas, museum purchase, 1942.32

B Attributed to Ethan Allen Greenwood (1779-1856), Portrait of Charles Jones, 1815, 26 in. x 18 3/4 in., oil on linen, gift of William Vareika, 2005.6

C Benjamin West (1738-1820), The Drummond Brothers, 1767, 95 in. x 58 3/4 in., oil on canvas, museum purchase, 1931.19

D Thomas Eakins (1844-1916), Professor Henry A. Rowland, 1897, 80 1/4 in. x 54 in., oil on canvas, gift of Stephen C. Clark, Esq., 1931.5

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Addison Gallery of American Art M U S E U M L E A R N I N G C E N T E R Portfolio Guide: American Identity 3

The Impact of Early PhotographyHow are the social and artistic constructs of early photographic portraits inspired by painted portraits?

What impact did photography have on the ways in which people expressed identity through images?

The popularization of photography in the United States following its invention in 1839 made portraiture more accessible to a broader social spectrum. This less costly form of visual representation significantly diversified the visual record of American culture. Because the early technology required extensive equipment and long exposure times, photographic portraits were often made in the photographer’s studio with neutral backdrops, conventionalized poses and props, and controlled lighting (top row).

Although William Henry Jackson’s portrait of a Papago Indian from the Grand Canyon appears to be housed in a similar studio setting, it was made on a survey trip to document the landscape and people of the American West. Other such endeavors to record and portray the identity of the growing nation through photographic surveys, where bulky cameras and entire darkrooms were transported on horseback through uncharted terrain, also created “portraits” of the rich resources and natural treasures of the United States and its territories, such as in Carleton Watkins’s bound album, Yo-Semite Valley.

E anonymous, Benjamin Whitney Gleason III Family,Taken in Lawrence, Mass, before 1849, 11 3/8 in. x 12 7/8 in. x 2 1/4 in., daguerreotype, gift of Patricia Fuller in memory of her father, 2008.101

F George Kendall Warren (1834-1884), L. Bradley, A.R. Atkins, J.A. Aken (Phillips Academy Students), 1858-1884, 3 1/2 in. x 2 1/8 in., albumen print mounted on photographer’s studio card, museum purchase, 1987.417.6

G George C. Gilchrest (1812-1888), #8 - Oval Portrait of Young Woman in Green Dress, c. 1855, 13 1/4 in. x 10 1/2 in., salt print-hand tinted, museum purchase, 1985.55

H William Henry Jackson (1843-1942), Ascension Rios - (Papago), c. 1877, 7 1/4 in. x 5 1/4 in., albumen print , museum purchase, 1977.114

I Carleton E. Watkins (1829-1916), Yosemite Valley from Inspiration Point, c. 1875, 4 3/4 in. x 8 in., albumen print, museum purchase, 1985.33

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Addison Gallery of American Art M U S E U M L E A R N I N G C E N T E R Portfolio Guide: American Identity 4

The Politics of Cultural IdentityHow can portraits give voice to the identity of a group or community?

How can images in series help to define - or redefine - a cultural group?

In 1898, Frank Albert Rinehart was commissioned to photograph the Indian Congress held in conjunction with the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition. Although Rinehart’s images of Native American leaders retain many European portrait conventions, the allowance of traditional dress and the expression of individual and tribal identity stands in sharp contrast to William Henry Jackson’s assimilated, anonymous Papago Indian (see previous page).

Art critic, writer, and photographer Carl Van Vechten was one of the leading popularizers of African American culture to white America, depicting and promoting the Harlem community from the mid 1920s through the 1960s. His portfolio ‘O, Write My Name.’ American Portraits: Harlem Heroes, celebrates through image and word the lives and contributions of fifty influential artists, writers, singers, and actors of the Harlem Renaissance. Statements by and about the subjects are printed below each image, inviting the comparison of the personal and public aspects of identity.

J Frank Albert Rinehart (1861-1928), Pete Mitchell (DustMaker) -Ponca-, 1898, 9 1/16 in. x 7 1/16 in., platinum palladium print, museum purchase, 1978.101

K Frank Albert Rinehart (1861-1928), Kill Spotted Horse, Assiniboines, 1898, 9 1/16 in. x 7 1/8 in., platinum palladium print, museum purchase, 1977.107

L Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964), Romare Bearden, from ‘O, Write My Name.’ American Portraits: Harlem Heroes, negative 1944, print 1983, hand pulled gravure print, gift of Stephen Sherrill (PA 1971) in honor of Donald and Britta McNemar, 1994.10.4

M Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964), Zora Neale Hurston, from ‘O, Write My Name.’ American Portraits: Harlem Heroes, negative 1935, print 1983, hand pulled gravure print, gift of Stephen Sherrill (PA 1971) in honor of Donald and Britta McNemar, 1994.10.24

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TEXT FROM IMAGE AT LEFT:

ZORA NEALE HURSTON (1903 – 1960)I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes… At certain times I have no race. I am me… the cosmic Zora emerges. I belong to no race nor time… I am merely a fragment of the Great Soul that surges within the boundaries.

From the essay “How It Feels To Be Colored Me”

A novelist, folklorist and anthropologist prominent during the Harlem Renaissance, she wrote Mules and Men, Their Eyes Were Watching God and other important works. After writing a number of books that celebrated black folkways, her life of fame, travel and adventure ended in poverty.

Addison Gallery of American Art M U S E U M L E A R N I N G C E N T E R Portfolio Guide: American Identity 5

Documenting AmericaWhat are the intentions and results of documentary, social documentary, and journalistic photography?

How is an artist’s relationship to a community reflected in the portraits and documents s/he makes?

For half a century Roy DeCarava focused his camera on the everyday people and activities of Harlem, where he was born and lived throughout his life. His spontaneous yet poetic images gave direct voice to a community which had otherwise been photographed by those from outside, such as Aaron Siskind.

The unfiltered immigrant perspective of young Swiss photographer Robert Frank led to what appeared to some at the time as an all-too-honest documentation of 1950s America. With its eighty-three candid compositions from across the country, The Americans reflected the reality of the American experience during a time that is often glossily portrayed as wholesome and prosperous.

Under the auspices of the United States government, Dorothea Lange was commissioned to photograph the dire situation of migrant workers during the Great Depression to help secure Congressional funds and public sentiment. A skilled photojournalist, she created images that communicated both the extreme needs and the everyday heroicism of those hardest hit by the devastating economic conditions.

O Roy DeCarava (1919-2009), Graduation Day, 1949, 9/16 in. x 13 5/8 in., gelatin silver print, museum purchase, 1951.29

P Aaron Siskind (1903-1991), Street Scene 2, from Harlem Document Portfolio, 1940, printed 1976, 14 in. x 11 in., gelatin silver print, purchased as the gift of Thomas C. Foley (PA 1971), 2008.24.2

Q Dorothea Lange (1895-1965), Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, neg. 1936, print c. 1950, 11 in. x 14 in., gelatin silver print, museum purchase, 2005.8

R Robert Frank (b. 1924), Charleston, South Carolina, from The Americans, negative 1955-56, print c. 1981, 9 15/16 in. x 14 13/16 in., gelatin silver print, museum purchase, 1989.77.13

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Addison Gallery of American Art M U S E U M L E A R N I N G C E N T E R Portfolio Guide: American Identity 6

Creating, Reinforcing, or Negating StereotypesHow have and are images employed to construct and confirm stereotypes?

How can images be made to counteract limiting or degrading perceptions of individuals and groups?

Racial caricatures in visual art and journalism and on stage and screen have been informing our ideas about the personalities, values, and capacities of African Americans since the advent of minstrelsy in the early 19th century. The powerful - and painful - impact of these ubiquitous and sustained images on African American and non-African American psyches can still be seen in today’s comedy which frequently lampoons stereotyped black character traits to elicit audience laughter.

While this publicity still from the television show Our Gang uses toddlers to visualize and uphold a racial hierarchy, Eduard Steichen’s portrait of Paul Robeson playing the lead stage role in Emperor Jones portrays the strength and social standing of this talented actor. More recently, the photographs of Dawoud Bey challenge the limiting images of both African Americans and teenagers historically seen in museums and the media by presenting probing, complex portraits of students from diverse cultural, class, life, and school backgrounds. Bey’s images in his Class Pictures series are accompanied by poignant personal narratives which add often unexpected layers to the sitter’s identity.

S Winslow Homer (1836-1910), Campaign Sketches. Our Jolly Cook., 1863, 11 in. x 8 15/16 in., lithograph on wove paper, museum purchase, 1936.50

T anonymous, Al Jolson, Publicity photo from the film The Jazz Singer, 1928, 10 in. x 8 in., gelatin silver print, museum purchase, 1987.497

U anonymous, Minstrel, n.d., 18 3/16 in. x 4 1/16 in., wood carving, museum purchase, 1964.2

V anonymous, Spanky and Buckwheat Shining Shoes, c. 1930, 9 15/16 in. x 7 15/16 in., gelatin silver print, museum purchase, 1987.496

W Eduard Jean Steichen (1879-1973), Paul Robeson as “The Emperor Jones” New York, from Edward Steichen: Twenty-Five Photographs, 1933, printed 1982, 20 in. x 16 in., gelatin silver print, gift of Thomas Israel (PA 1962), 2007.65.23

X Dawoud Bey (b. 1953), Kevin, from the series Class Pictures, 2005, 40 in. x 30 in., digital C-print, museum purchase

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TEXT THAT ACCOMPANIES KEVIN BY DAWOUD BEY:... Thanks to the death of my father I learned to value independence, hard work, and maturity. This is my blessing. Thanks to the death of my father I grew up much too fast and never learned how to ask anyone for help. I carry my own burdens . . . alone. This is my curse.

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Addison Gallery of American Art M U S E U M L E A R N I N G C E N T E R Portfolio Guide: American Identity 7

Curating IdentityHow can historical conventions of portraiture be transformed to create new identity narratives?

How so student-centered projects reveal and redress identity issues in the classroom?

By layering costumes and props, personal experience, and recognizable portraits by European masters, David McGee raises identity questions about the past and present. Inspired by the paradox of women’s growing prominence in the workplace yet continued reliance on make-up and feminine dress, this painted “collage” also speaks to the irony of art museums and art histories that simultaneously reference yet diminish the impact of African art on western art styles.

The projects of artist-educator Wendy Ewald, such as Black Self/White Self where a racially mixed class of students in North Carolina pictured themselves as their own and the other race, address individual, community, cultural, gender, religious, and racial identity. Through direct collaboration with school systems, teachers, and students that respond to both local and global issues of expressing and representing identity, Ewald’s and her students’ photographs redress the sometimes superficial, misleading, or invisible representations of their communities.

Z Wendy Ewald (b. 1951), Shadia, 1997, 55 3/4 in. x 42 5/8 in. x 2 in., gelatin silver print, gift of the artist in honor of Adam Weinberg, 2006.52

AA David McGee (b. 1962), Corporate Girl/Side B, 1997, 96 in. x 99 in., oil on canvas, partial gift of John Axelrod (PA 1964) and museum purchase, 2000.17

BB Wendy Ewald (b. 1951), White Self, 1994-1997, 21 1/2 in. x 17 1/2 in. x 1 3/4 in., gelatin silver print, gift of the artist in honor of Adam Weinberg, 2006.57

CC Wendy Ewald (b. 1951), Black Self, 1994-1997, 21 1/2 in. x 17 1/2 in. x 1 3/4 in., gelatin silver print, gift of the artist in honor of Adam Weinberg, 2006.56

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Addison Gallery of American Art M U S E U M L E A R N I N G C E N T E R Portfolio Guide: American Identity 8

Curriculum Connections and ResourcesS U G G E S T E D C L A S S R O O M C O N N E C T I O N S History/Social Studies • colonial America• African American identity• race relations• The Harlem Renaissance• Civil Rights Movement• Native American history • Women’s Movement• femininity and masculinity• The Great Depression • social documentary

photography• photojournalism

English• the immigrant experience• coming of age• books by Junot Diaz• books by Julia Alvarez• The Dew Breaker• The Odyssey• The Diary of Anne Frank• To Kill a Mockingbird• The House on Mango Street• The Awakening• The Color Purple• The Adventures of

Huckleberry Finn

Art• portraiture• self-expression• representing identity• symbolism

Science• biological traits• childhood and adulthood• gender and sexuality• social conditioning

C O N N E C T I O N S T O A D D I T I O N A L T H E M A T I C P O R T F O L I O SRace and OthernessGenderStereotypesIdentity ConstructionIdentity and PlaceHome and CommunityThe Great DepressionCivil Rights MovementDocumentation versus ArtSocial Documentary Photography

T E A C H E R A N D S T U D E N T R E S O U R C E SBerger, Maurice. For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010. An examination of the impact of visual culture on the Civil Rights Movement, including photography, television, film, magazines, newspapers, and advertising.

Frank, Robert. The Americans. New York: Scalo Publishers, 2000. The compilations of photographs taken by photographer Robert Frank as he crossed America in 1955-56, with an introduction by Jack Kerouac.

Class Pictures: Photographs by Dawoud Bey. New York: Aperture, 2007. Bey’s photographs accompanied by poignant personal statements of sixty students from various economic, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds from high schools around the country.

Dawoud Bey: Portraits 1975-1995. Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 1995. Photographs by Dawoud Bey along with four insightful essays connecting his work to the larger history of portraiture and stereotype.

Ewald, Wendy. Secret Games: Collaborative Works with Children 1969-1999. New York: Scalo, 2000. A survey of collaborative photographic projects developed by Ewald in communities around the world.

Addison Gallery of American Art Phillips Academy, Andover, MA Education Department

Rebecca HayesCurator of Education

Jamie KaplowitzEducation Associate and Museum Learning Specialist

Christine JeeEducation Associate for School and Community Collaborations

www.addisongallery.org

Arranging a Visit to the Museum Learning CenterAt least two weeks in advance or preferably more, contact:

Jamie Kaplowitz (978) 749-4037 jkaplowitz@andover.edu

to schedule your visit and discuss possible themes, applicable portfolios of works, and related activities.