PAINTING in the USA

Art developed in America in conditions such as existed in no European nation.

Instead of a civilized society inhabiting the same region for centuries, here was a
group of colonies drawn from many countries. Up to the 18 th century, the only kind of
art which people of wealth and position considered necessary was portraiture; and it
was in portraiture that American artists made their first achievements. Many native
born artists began as craftsmen, house-sign and carriage painters, carpenters and
cabinet makers.
As the United States emerged from colonialism into nationhood the more
intelligent artists were drawn increasingly to Europe. It was in London in Benjamin
West’s (1738-1820) studio that the first Americans attempted at the grand style
originated in West’s own innovation. Benjamin West was the first to paint pictures of
people dressed in their own clothes, not in robes. He is considered to be the first
important artist in the history of American painting.
The first American artist to produce history paintings was John Trumbull
(1756-1843). Many of his paintings were begun under the guidance of B. West. His
pictures deal with contemporary American events. He painted mostly revolutionary
war scenes, battle scenes. There were such works as “The Declaration of
Independence”,”Lady in White”,”George Washington”.
The first definite school of landscape painting appeared in the 1820s. It was
termed the Hudson River School because the artists first painted views of the
Hudson Valley and the places near which they lived. The Hudson River School was
founded by Thomas Cole (1801-1848) and it was the first consciously national school
of American painting. Amoung his works there were “The Last of the
Mohicans”,”Cross at Sunset”,”View of the Thames”,”Romantic Landscape with
Ruined Tower” .These painters expressed the immensity, solitude and open skies of
the New World in enormous romantic canvases. Such landscapes drew the greatest
acclaim and even outstripped portraiture in popularity.
The late 19th century was a brilliant period for American-born painters.
M. Cassatt and J. Whistler cast their lot with the Old World. Mary Cassatt (1844-
1926) applied the Parisian technique to personal themes and made a lasting mark.
She developed a personal style which showed a strong influence of Japanese prints.
Besides, the painter used bright hues that her friends, the Impressionists, had
introduced. Her favourite theme is womanhood. Cassatt is famous for “The Boating
Party”, “Girl in a Blue Armchair”, “Woman Reading in a Garden”,“In the
Box”,”Children on the Beach”,”Young Girl at a Window”,”Child in Straw Hat ”.
James Abbot McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) developed in England a style allied
to Impressionism yet very much his own. Like Cassatt being under the influence of
Japanese ideals, his basic conception of harmony was an oriental one. There
were”The Thames in Ice ”, “Fishing Boat ”, “Arrangement in Pink, Red and Purple
”but his first major venture was the famous portrait of his mother “Arrangement in
Grey and Black, No 1”.
In 1908 a group of young artists staged an exhibition of their paintings which
had been rejected by the National Academy. The leading exponents of the Ash Can
School were Glackens, Shinn, Luks and Sloan. Their influence was enormous. The
Eight broke down academic idealism and fostered a keen interest in contemporary
American life. They painted low and high life, the masses and the upper classes.
Rockwell Kent (1882-1917) was a very versatile and gifted artist. Beginning
his career as a painter of marines and landscapes, working in dark palette, he
developed a bold, striking style with massive, starkly simplified forms. His epic
scenes of Alaska and Greenland painted with a strong sense of pictorial drama are
among his best works. They are original and rich in subject matter, the colours are
bright, the technique is faultless. Kent avoided details, found monumental colour
relations and laconic compositions. Among his best pictures are “November in North
Greenland”, “Spring Sunday”, “Greenlanders”, “”.
Today artists in America tend not to restrict themselves to schools, styles, or a
single medium. A work of art might be a performance on stage or a hand-written
manifesto, or a massive design cut into a Western desert etc.
Bellows, Hopper