Colonial and Revolutionary Art

Making A New Nation, Part I

American StudiesWilliam Fremd High School

Earliest Art in Colonial Life

• Art should be considered an artifact of history, not as a document.

• Art was notably absent for the first 50-60 years of colonial life. Why?

Thomas Smith: Self-Portrait, 1680

Limners• Someone who

draws for a specific, private audience

• Primary occupation was home decorating (furniture, etc.); portraiture was a sideline

• Frequently anonymous (unsigned)

Anonymous: The Mason Children, 1670 (attributed to the Freake painter)

Anonymous: Elizabeth Freake and Baby Mary, ca. 1670

Anonymous: Anne Pollard

Joshua Johnson:

Portrait of Sea Captain

John Murphy

Joshua Johnson was the first

distinguished African-

American painter.

Ralph Earl: Roger

Sherman

Ralph Earl:

Portrait of A Man

with A Gun

Robert Feke: Sir Isaac Royall and Family

John Hesselius: Charles Calvert and Colored Slave, 1761

Justus Engelhardt Kuhn: Henry Darnall III as A Child

18th Century Painting

• Drastic improvements in technique: depth, perception

• Artists were more well trained.

John Singleton Copley: Paul Revere

John Singleton Copley: The Gore Children

John Singleton

Copley: Mr. and

Mrs. Mifflin

John Singleton

Copley: Mrs.

Seymour Fort

John Singleto

n Copley: Boy and Squirrel

John Singleton Copley: Watson and the Shark