American art has had a long tradition. If you think about a young country, it makes sense that its art would reflect its growth and the emerging national identity.
American Art descended from European models. Just as Kehinde Wiley’s Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps (7.0) descended from David’s earlier painting, Emanual Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware (28.0) appropriates the European tradition that preceded him. In the same way, Hiram Powers’s work (28.1) hearkens back to Greek and Roman prototypes.
This treatment elevates the American subjects to mythological proportions. Leutze makes Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River a heroic act. The event and the painting have such symbolic importance that Kamala Harris held a campaign event at the same place.*
Art is never static. What one artist does is open to reference and commentary by other artists. When Larry Rivers (28.2) uses the painting as a prototype, or when Kent Monkman (28.3) replaces the people to explore “themes of colonization, sexuality, loss, and resilience—the complexities of historic and contemporary Indigenous experiences,”† it adds to the tradition of American Art.
As the United States changed, so did its art. Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Op Art, Color Field Painting, Minimalism, Kinetic Art, Funk Art all exploded in the second half of the 20th century. American Art has steadily become more diverse.
When I was a student, it seemed as if American Art progressed in movements. Now I’m not so sure history is that clean. There are too many different forms of expression. Technology, the internet, and AI will probably diversify the art world further.
This post started with European influence on American art. The situation has been reversed now. American art has influenced people all over the world. Soon, we won’t be able to categorize art by nationality. Maybe we’ll go to global art and that will mean not the mythologizing of a single nation, but the dialogue of a world.
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Washington Crossing the Delaware. Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.). 1851. American. Oil on canvas. 149 x 255 in. (378.5 x 647.7 cm). TheMet.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11417
George Washington. Hiram Powers (American, Woodstock, Vermont 1805–1873 Florence). 1838–44, carved after 1844. American. Marble. 31 x 23 x 14 in. (78.7 x 58.4 x 35.6 cm). TheMet.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11792
Andrew Jackson. Hiram Powers (American, Woodstock, Vermont 1805–1873 Florence). 1834–35; carved 1839. American. Marble. 34 3/4 x 23 1/2 x 15 1/2 in. (88.3 x 59.7 x 39.4 cm). TheMet.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11789
Washington Crossing the Delaware. Larry Rivers. 1953.
Oil, graphite, and charcoal on linen. 6′ 11 5/8″ x 9′ 3 5/8″ (212.4 x 283.5 cm). MoMA.
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78504
Resurgence of the People. Kent Monkman (Cree, b. 1965). 2019. Acrylic on canvas,.132 x 264 in. (335.28 x 670.6 cm). TheMet.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/830025
* https://whyy.org/articles/kamala-harris-washington-crossing-bucks-county/
† https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2019/great-hall-commission-kent-monkman