Picturing History: American Painting 1770-1930

260 Pages·203.3 MB·English

by  Corcoran Gallery of Art

American Painting 1770—1930
EDITED BY
WILLIAM AYRES

PICTURING HISTORY
American Painting 1770—1930
EDITED BY
WILLIAM AYRES
Chief Contributor: Barbara J. Mitnick
Foreword by Michael Kammen
Essays by Ann Uhry Abrams, Kenneth Ames,
Matthew Baigell, Bruce W. Chambers,
Wendy Greenhouse, Gail E. Husch, Barbara J. Mitnick,
Barry Schwartz, Mark Thistlethwaite, Ron Tyler
n association with
17raunces Tavern Museum, New York

This book accompanies the exhibition Picturing History:
American Painting, 1770-1930, William Ayres, Project
Director, Barbara J. Mitnick, Curator, organized by Fraunces
Tavern Museum, New York City, with a grant from the IBM
Corporation and additional funding from the National
Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Exhibition venues: IBM Gallery of Science and Art,
New York City, September 28 to November 27, 1993;
The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., January 29 to '
April 2, 1994; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, May 1
to July 10, 1994; Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida,
August 6 to November 13, 1994.
Fraunces Tavern Museum is owned and operated by, and
FRAUNCES TAVERN® is a registered service mark of, Sons of
the Revolution in the State of New York, Inc.First published in
the United States of America in 1993 by
Rizzoli International International Publications, Inc.
300 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10010
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without permission in writing from
Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.
Copyright © 1993 Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., and
Fraunces Tavern Museum
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Picturing history : American painting, 1770-1930 / edited by
William S. Ayres ; foreword by Michael Kammen ;
introduction by William S. Ayres,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8478-1745-8
1. Painting, American. 2. History in art. I. Ayres, William S.
ND1441.P53 1993
758'. 9973'0973—dc20 93-10437
CIP
Developmental Editor: Kathryn Grover
Designed by Abigail Sturges
Editor: Charles Miers
Compositor: Michael Bertrand
Proofreader: Mary Christian
Printed and bound in Italy
Front jacket: Emanuel Leutze and Eastman Johnson,
Washington Crossing the Delaware, plate 124.
Back jacket: Thomas Hart Benton, New York History,
plate 132. Page 1: Frederic Church, Hooker and Company
Journeying Through the Wilderness from Plymouth to Hartford,
in 1636. 1846. 40 'A x 60 (102.3 x 152.9 cm.). Wadsworth
Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut. Pages 2-3: Robert Weir,
Landing of Henry Hudson, detail of plate 39. Pages 4-5:
Dennis Malone Carter, Molly Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth,
detail of plate 13-
Contents
11 Foreword
MICHAEL KAMMEN
17 Preface
WILLIAM AYRES
29 The History of History Painting
BARBARA J. MITNICK
45 The Landing of the Fathers: Representing the National Past, 1770-1860
WENDY GREENHOUSE
65 National Paintings and American Character: Historical Murals in the Capitol Rotunda
ANN UHRY ABRAMS
81 “Freedom’s Holy Cause”: History, Religious, and Genre Painting in America, 1840-1860
GAIL E. HUSCH
101 Historic Reportage and Artistic License: Prints and Paintings of the Mexican War
RON TYLER
117 Painting the Civil War as History, 1861-1910
BRUCE W. CHAMBERS
135 Picturing Lincoln
BARRY SCHWARTZ
157 Paintings for the People: American Popular History Painting, 1875-1930
BARBARA J. MITNICK
177 A Fall from Grace: The Critical Reception of History Painting, 1875-1925
MARK THISTLETHWAITE
201 On the Margins of American History
MATTHEW BAIGELL
221 Afterword: History Pictures Past, Present, and Future
KENNETH L. AMES
232 Notes
247 Bibliography
251 Index