CMS 7th Grade Tour: American & Contemporary Art

CMS 7th

Grade Tour: American & Contemporary Art

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: Conflict and change affect the creative energy of individuals and the culture of a community. Essential Question 1: How does art and culture impact the community? Significant concepts: subcultures and minority voice; perseverance; quiet power/communication; risk-takers (art against odds); chains symbolic of both bondage/slavery AND individuals linking together to form strong united front

Essential Question 2: How has art influenced or been influenced by society, economics, and politics?

Significant concepts: industrialism; responsibility/response to environment; realism VS idealism in portraiture (depending on artist's perspective); status quo; Can where you are change WHO you are?; perception vs. reality

Essential Question 3: How does art imprint upon my personal signature?

Significant concepts: What's my interpretation and perspective (how do I infer

meaning)? What do I bring to the work? What do I take with me when I walk away (how

have my experiences shape my life/the world)? How do my mood and personal

experiences influence my interpretation (students should try to step into the abstract

paintings instead of trying to "find" objects in them and assign meaning)

What motivates artists? How do artists influence or contribute to society?

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Grade Tour: American & Contemporary Art P a g e | 2

Essential Vocabulary:

dialogue: conversation between two or more people; an exchange of ideas or opinions

on a particular issue, with a view to reaching an amicable agreement or settlement.

legacy: anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor.

signature: any unique, distinguishing aspect, feature, or mark; a person's name or a

mark representing it.

transcend: to rise above or go beyond; exceed: to transcend the limits of thought;

kindness transcends courtesy; to outdo or exceed, surpass.

perception: cognition; understanding; immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation,

as of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities.

community: a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common

characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect

from the larger society within which it exists.

culture: the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age

group.

imprint: a mark or figure impressed or printed on something: any impression or

impressed effect.

impact: influence; effect; the force exerted by a new idea, concept, technology, or

ideology.

proportion: comparative relation between things or magnitudes as to size, number;

ratio.

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◙ Stop 1: Copley and Stuart Portraits

John Singleton Copley. American, 1738-1815 (worked in England, 1774–1815) St. Cecilia, a portrait (Mrs. Richard Crowninshield Derby) 1803 Oil on canvas with original frame

In this large-scale painting, Copley presents his sitter, Mrs. Derby, as Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. Surrounded by luxurious furnishings and wearing a fashionable empire-waist dress, Mrs. Derby demonstrates her musical talents by playing a harp – an instrument likely chosen to echo her graceful figure and to emphasize her slender feminine hands – as she is admired from above by heavenly putti (angels). The harp is also a symbol for the divine. St. Cecilia is said to have been a Roman noblewoman of the second or third century and a Christian. Authorities attempted to kill her because of her refusal to worship pagan gods but she miraculously escaped death. She is associated with music because, as legend suggests, she expressed her Christianity through song. Copley’s reference to St. Cecilia and his use of the cherubs may show the influence of his travels in Italy, a popular destination for American and European artists of the period, and familiarity with English artist Joshua Reynold’s famous 1775 portrait, Mrs. Sheridan as St. Cecilia.

Gilbert Stuart. American, 1755-1828 Portrait of Isaac Gouverneur 1793-1795 Oil on canvas with an early 19th century frame

In this work, Stuart depicts the wealthy merchant Isaac Gouverneur. Gouverneur is dressed in typical upper class male fashions of the late 18th century. His jacket is dark blue silk velvet worn atop a yellow silk waistcoat (long vest). He wears a white cotton cravat (length of fine cloth, wrapped around the neck, and tied in the front). The large ornamental buttons (probably polished brass) contrast with the dark silk velvet. Gouverneur holds in his left hand a snuff case; while in his right hand he may hold a pinch of snuff. His dress underscores his status as a successful

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businessman. Lower class citizens would have had comparable garments, but made of cotton or linen instead of silk. Gouverneur was a British citizen living in New York, and supported colonial independence from England by providing military supplies to the cause in 1775. He was arrested for treason for these actions and imprisoned in England but eventually returned to New York as a patriotic hero. Copley and Stuart elevate the sitter in different ways: Copley used allegory and a theatrical setting to influence perceptions of Mrs. Derby. Stuart used a spare setting and concentrated on character traits that contemporary Americans admired: dignity, nobility of bearing, and reserve – rather than the pride in and display of materialism found in Copley’s work. Copley’s work was exhibited in the Royal Academy’s 1804 exhibition; he wanted to further promote himself and pursue work beyond portraiture. By contrast, Stuart liked painting portraits because they could be done quickly and were very lucrative.

Questions for investigation: What do you know about this the person by looking at the portrait?

Why do you think Copley compares Mrs. Derby to a religious figure? How do you

think this influenced perception of sitter during time period?

Compare: how does the Stuart portrait differ from the Copley portrait?

What motivated the artists to create these works?

How do they differ from contemporary works as a result?

This question is relevant if contemporary art tour stop precedes this stop. For

instance, compare to Kehinde Wiley’s motivation for portrait work.

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◙ Stop 2: Dave’s Pot and Walnut Sideboard

Lewis Miles Pottery. Edgefield, South Carolina David Drake, potter. American, circa 1800-1875 Five Gallon Jar 1864 Stoneware

The vital role that slaves played in this country’s agricultural and industrial economy in the 18th and 19th centuries is well documented, but their contributions to the fine and decorative arts are less noted. The five gallon jar by David Drake is an example of this alternate form of slave labor. David Drake worked in the Edgefield area of South Carolina, a region that was home to a number of potteries. Not only did Drake create exceptionally large pieces of stoneware (many were well over 20 gallons), but he often inscribed them as well – a bold assertion of his artistic pride as well as a demonstration of the rare ability to read and write. This is significant because in 1837 South Carolina passed a law making it illegal to teach slaves to read and write and for slaves to practice those skills. This particular pot, which is one of his last known pieces, is signed and dated “Lm March 10 1864 / Dave.” “Lm” stands for the Lewis Miles pottery, for which Dave produced this piece. Miles may have tolerated Dave’s inscriptions because of the economic role he served through production of his vessels. Dave’s pots contrast with other Edgefield potters who decorated their work with applied faces or glazed designs instead of incised words.

Unidentified African-American Maker. Union County,

North Carolina Plantation Sideboard circa 1845 Walnut

and yellow pine (secondary wood)

According to family tradition this sideboard was produced by a slave who worked at the Joseph H. Woodward Plantation near Marshville, North Carolina. The diamond shaped inlays (escutcheons) are a small yet graceful addition that signal not only the care devoted to the creation of the object but the skill of the craftsman who made it as well.

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Unidentified Staffordshire Manufacturer. Staffordshire, England Jug with Abolitionist Imagery circa 1840 Pearlware

Wedgwood. Staffordshire, England William Hackwood, modeler. British, circa 1757-1839 Slave Emancipation Society Medallion designed in 1787 Jasperware, silver Unidentified Staffordshire Manufacturer. Staffordshire, England Uncle Tom’s Cabin plate 1852-1875 Pearlware

The three pieces in this case are thematically linked by their abolitionist subject matter. The Wedgwood anti-slavery medallions were in production as early as 1788, when Josiah Wedgwood sent some to Benjamin Franklin, then the president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery. The text reads “Am I not a Man and a Brother?” a quote calculated to reinforce the essential humanity of those enslaved. This was also a response to the 1787 constitutional compromise that allowed slaves to be counted as three-fifths of a person. The southern states wanted to count the slaves as population for representation in the new Congress. They had always been considered property, not persons. The northern states didn’t want the slaves to count if they had no rights as citizens. The two sides reached a compromise. The slaves would count as 3/5 of a person for representation in the House of Representatives. The popularity of the Wedgwood medallions inspired the production of other wares the consumer mass-market. The pitcher in this case is a perfect example. On one side it features a crude reproduction of the chained slave and text found on the Wedgwood medallion; on the other it features a verse from The Negro’s Complaint, a seven stanza poem written by William Cowper to inspire sympathy for those held as slaves. The plate featuring a scene from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book Uncle Tom’s Cabin

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(the bestselling novel of the 19th century) was created for a similar market of anti-slavery consumers. The image depicts one of the most dramatic moments in the narrative – the moment before Tom’s death – in which George Selby has arrived to attempt to buy Tom’s freedom from his cruel master.

Questions for investigation: Why do you think Dave chose to inscribe words on this pot rather than decorative

elements? Why not just sign the bottom of the pot? Why do you think he was allowed to sign his work?

How does a signature affect a work? What other ways besides a name can an artist leave a signature? Think about artists who have a signature “style”.

How do economics influence art?

How did these artists contribute to or influence the culture?

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◙ Stop 3A: Ogunquit Morning and The Stone Cottage

Paul Bartlett. American, 1881-1965 Ogunquit Morning 1910-1920 oil on canvas

Paul Bartlett had strong ties to North Carolina: he moved to Charlotte in 1944 and taught at The Mint Museum as well as Charlotte Country Day School before taking a position at Guilford College, where he was a professor until his death in 1965. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Académie Julian in Paris, as well as with John Sloan in New York. Ogunquit, Maine, the site of this painting, was a popular artists’ colony in the opening decades of the 20th century, providing a welcome communal respite for artists working in urban centers such as New York.

Frederick Childe Hassam. American, 1859-1935 The Stone Cottage, Old Lyme 1903 Oil on canvas

Childe Hassam is an important American Impressionist artist. Impressionism was established in Paris in the 1870’s and focused on sunlight instead of shadows; on the fleeting daily scene instead of mythology or religious subject matter. During the late nineteenth century, many American artists went to Paris and were inspired by Impressionist artists (compare to Italy and its influence on Copley). In this work, Hassam depicts a house in Old Lyme, Connecticut: a town that became a popular summer colony for artists in the opening years of the 20th century. Hassam was one of the first painters to work there; in fact, he completed The Stone Cottage during his first visit to Old Lyme in 1903. His comfort with the Impressionist style, in which he had been working for almost two decades by this point, is evident in his use of light, feathery brushwork, his airy palette of blues and greens, and his use of patches of unprimed canvas to describe the earthy tones of the cottage’s stone walls. His tiny brushstrokes break up form into flickers of color and light.

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Questions for investigation:

Why do you think Hassam chose to paint in this style or “signature?”

Optics of color mixing: application of dabs of color side by side instead of mixed on

the palette, before application on canvas, creates a shimmering more intense color

for eye to mix. The simplicity of the scene doesn’t reflect complexity of

experimentation with color optics: through experiments with style, Hassam could

predict how the eye perceived the scene.

What can you infer about everyday life during this time by looking at these works?

What motivated these artists’ “signatures?”

Compare to how economics drove the production of the early portraiture and anti-

slavery works.

◙ Stop 3B: Café Martin and Carnival Scene

Everett Shinn. American, 1876-1958 Café Martin (formerly Delmonico’s) circa 1908 Pastel on paper

Everett Shinn was part of a group of artists who set themselves apart from and challenged the American Impressionists’ style. Shinn and his peers portrayed New York City at the turn of the twentieth century and its vitality and seamy side. Their style and subject matter contrasted the Impressionists: they used a dark palette and focused on daily life in urban, versus suburban, settings. Similar to the Impressionists, they avoided mythological subject matter. Although these artists were interested in daily life that depicted lower classes, they were not motivated by a desire to change or reform lower class life in the city. They were motivated by an interest in gritty nature of scenes and its relationship to a gritty, unique style of visual expression. Unlike their subjects, Shinn and his peers were part of the middle class and had access to privileges not available to lower classes (compare to Copley, Stuart and their wealthy clients).

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Like many of his peers, Everett Shinn began his career as a newspaper and magazine illustrator who specialized in chronicling the drama of city life. This pastel drawing depicts a street outside the popular Café Martin in Madison Square Garden. The location of Café Martin had been the original site of the famous Delmonico's, New York's premiere fine dining restaurant. The Café Martin, however, had emerged as a different sort of hangout, for it soon gained a reputation for attracting members of the city's underworld.

George Benjamin Luks. American, 1867–1933 Carnival Scene circa 1918 Oil on canvas

George Luks, one of Shinn’s peers, made a name for himself by creating paintings of the urban poor and the tenement neighborhoods of lower Manhattan. He was known to have been lively and cantankerous, a drinker and a carouser who found the hardscrabble lives of immigrants and loners more stimulating than those of the upper classes. He found the crowds an exciting scene to portray. His dark, loose brushwork suits his subjects. In 1918 Luks painted Blue Devils on Fifth Avenue, a scene of French veterans on parade in New York (now owned by the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC), for an exhibition of paintings in support of Allied efforts in World War I. Carnival Scene, which includes figures clad in similar blue military garb as well as French flags, is likely a related work.


What can you infer about everyday life during this time by looking at these works?

What motivated these artists’ “signatures?”

Compare to how economics drove the production of the early portraiture and anti-

slavery works.

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◙ Stop 4: Charlotte’s Charlotte and Philip the Fair

Ken Aptekar. American, 1950- Charlotte’s Charlotte 2009 Oil on canvas on panel with glass

Charlotte’s Charlotte references the Mint Museum Randolph’s 1772 coronation portrait of Queen Charlotte by Allan Ramsay. By appropriating Ramsay’s imagery and adding his own original text, Aptekar initiates a dialogue between his work, Ramsay’s painting and the viewer. The six panels of Charlotte’s Charlotte not only refer to the imagery present in Ramsay’s painting, but also the spatial dimensions of the portrait itself: the six panels together equal the size of the historical work. Prior to creating Charlotte’s Charlotte, Aptekar met with diverse groups within the community to gain a better understanding of what Queen Charlotte means to Charlotteans. Words and phrases such as BLACK WHITE OTHER and IMMIGRANT sandblasted into glass and affixed to the paintings reflect the distinct voices of the Charlotte community and function as a means of eliciting a variety of interpretations. With these texts overlaying the paintings, Aptekar intentionally addresses the issue of Queen Charlotte’s race (she was of North African, Portuguese and German descent) and invites us to compare the implications of ethnic identity at the time of Ramsay’s portrait, and the multiplicity of meanings that this may hold for contemporary viewers. The panel entitled take my hand references the Queen’s young age (17) at the time of her coronation. Just a few years later, the British Empire would be at war with the American Colonies.

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Kehinde Wiley. American, 1977- Philip the Fair 2006 Oil and enamel on canvas

Kehinde Wiley’s portraits of young African-American men reference famous portraits by the Old Masters. In juxtaposing contemporary urban imagery with the style and scale of the Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo periods, Wiley bestows the power and authority of Eurocentric Western painting onto his anonymous models who emphasize black masculinity and strength. The floral patterning of the background highlights the figure and subsequently offers Wiley’s subject a place of prominence, and gives expression to men who often occupy a place of invisibility in society. The titles of Wiley’s paintings are culled from specific art historical precedents. Philip the Fair is the title of the 15th century stained glass image of Philip IV of France, who was infamously nicknamed “the fair,” as a description of his appearance as well as an ironic allusion to his treacherous reign.


Compare Aptekar’s portrait with Ramsey’s: how does the newer portrait suggest a dialogue between the artist and the community.

Ramsey’s and Aptekar’s portraits have the same dimensions: how do we know this? Ramsey’s portrait has a base length of 6 feet and a height of 9 feet. Aptekar’s work is comprised of six 3 by 3-foot panels – a base length of 9 feet and a height of 6 feet.

How does Wiley respond to the legacy of European art? How does he embrace the legacy and also transcend it?

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◙ Stop 5: Chaos and Order and Lazzarini’s Table/Chair

Tom Nakashima. American, 1941- Chaos and Order 2008 Oil and collage on wood

Tom Nakashima created his image through a process of revealing and concealing. He affixes a layer of found images to a board, then applies layers of paint, which he scrapes and scores to reveal the image below. In this painting he has also added newspaper fragments. Through this additive and subtractive method, imagery emerges and evolves. Nakashima was inspired by the image of piles of dead trees near his home, once orchards that were cut down to make way for suburban sprawl, and stacked and bound for paper mills. The trees carry multiple meanings. They mark a transition from orchard to housing development, for instance, and they also suggest change over time: orchards are not natural designs; farmers create them and pull them down over time, regardless of suburban sprawl. The dead blackbird, which is entombed within the pile of precariously balanced logs, conjures associations of consumption and conservation, death and life, and entropy and harmony.

Robert Lazzarini. American, 1965- Wood, mixed media, pigment

Robert Lazzarini’s sculptures are at once strikingly recognizable yet unfamiliar. He makes use of planar distortion and meticulous patinas to create these uncanny objects. The sculptures seem to shift and collapse as the viewer moves and changes vantage points – there is never a perspective from which the viewer is able to see the object as it should ordinarily look. Lazzarini has developed a unique approach that combines both traditional and technological methods of sculpture. Beginning with an

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image of an ordinary object, in this case a chair and a table, Lazzarini employs computer design programs to digitally alter the image, then uses the resulting images to create three-dimensional forms via a method of computer-generated model-making, which become the basis for the final life-sized sculptures.


How does Nakashima’s additive and subtractive process reflect contemporary

culture?

We contribute or add positive things to culture: technological advances that

contribute to better quality of life, for instance. But progress also subtracts from, or

has a negative impact on the environment.

Think about Nakashima’s title (Chaos and Order): how does the image reflect these

opposite ideas?

For instance, the “orderly” log pile covers up the dead bird, suggesting “chaos.” Note

the text from newspaper fragments: it references political or cultural events one

could associate with societal chaos.

How does Lazzarini’s artistic process reflect contemporary culture?

Our contemporary society in a state of distortion, for instance.

Documents

CMS 7th Grade Tour: American & Contemporary Art