American Art History

The colonization of North America by Europeans had an enormous return on the course of art making in that area . From the outset we must remind ourselves that it was , even at the top hat of times , a matter of conqueror and conquered , with those in role dictating the values and thus the art of the communities . The North America of the seventeenth century had neither means nor time to develop consume traditions of the fine arts . Therefore European tradition had ugly effect upon the American art of colonial finaleA significant come of the New World was colonized by Britain . Unlike their competitors , the French , Spanish and Portuguese , the production of art in British North America had almost no links to the devotional needs of the community instead , it rested on the fancies of the marketplace both in the colonies and in the old country . similar to the established art market of the Dutch Golden epoch , the artists of British North America produced work covering a wide range of interests including still life , personation , landscape , and genre scenes , which appealed to the domestic interests of their clientele . Small-scale portraits were the most public and commanded the highest prices . The portraits from this period reflect the prosperity , cultural identity and complaisant status of their subjects . As American colonies increased in existence , the prosperity that escorted that process promoted the development of urban life . The subjects of the portraits of that period were from brand new social class of rich merchants , superior sailors , who often were ship-owners . Much attention was devoted to the subjects clothes and accessories to mark in the picture their elevated social status and achiever in business .

Their upright postures serve as extra indicator of their refined manners and high upbringingOne of the first American artists to emerge into significance was John Singleton Copley , whose early portraits such as his Portrait of Nathaniel Hurd (Fig . 1 ) of c . 1765 exhibit love for penny-pinching observation and Spartan design . This is rare case when the sitter is depicted in everyday clothes and informal melodic line of the portrait suggests that the sitter represents middle class . If we compare Copley s portraiture with that of an English contemporary , for example , Reynold , we can hardly alternate to notice the reserve with which the American handles both his materials and his subjectFigure 1Jonathan Singleton CopleyPortrait of Nathaniel HurdCa . 1765 . Oil on canvas . 76 .2 x 64 .8 cmThe Cleveland Museum of contrivanceGift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic TrustRetrieved from HYPERLINK http /clevelandmuseumofart .org /museum /collect /world /index .html t _top clevelandmuseumofart .org /world /index .htmlReferenceCraven , Wayne (1994 ) American Art : History and tillage . New York : Harry N . Abrams...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com

If you want to get a full essay, wisit our page: write my paper