Parallel Evolution
American History Through Art
Anna Cheimets
Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: Arts and Entertainment
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The juxtaposition of these images at the beginning of "The American Evolution" exhibition at the Corcoran gallery serves well as a symbol of the evolution of American art and history since the late 18th century.
Emily Shapiro, Assistant Curator for American Art, and Sarah Newman, Assistant Curator for Contemporary Art, collaborated in organizing the show. According to Shapiro, the exhibit is the culmination of a series of shows displaying the Corcoran's extensive collection of American art.
The show attempts to take on the extraordinarily broad subject of the transformation and growth of America as seen through its art. The exhibition is broken into five main categories: money, land, politics, cultural exchange and the modern world, which very effectively highlight underlying American themes in doses that are easy for museum-goers to process.
On the one hand, the quick pace of the exhibit and the thoughtful commentary leaves the viewer with a fascinating overarching view. On the other hand, using such broad categories means that it is difficult to go in-depth.
The incorporation of historical context is an effective way to explore and highlight a different dimension of the art. With American history as a backdrop, the viewer is able to understand why artists chose their particular style and subject. Additionally, the art accentuates the personal and emotional aspects of history that can be easily lost in a sea of dates and events.
The first section of the exhibit, "Money," is composed mostly of portraits of wealthy Americans, interspersed with a few contrasting portraits of the workers and the industry that contributed to this wealth. John Singleton Copley's painting of Thomas Avery II, a wealthy brewer, completed in 1770, typifies the modesty of American wealth during this time period. The painting itself is subdued, with mostly dark tones and soft light on the subject, and Avery is dressed in simple but fashionable clothes from the time period.
More impressive, however, are the larger portraits of wealthy women in the next room. John Singer Sargent's oil painting, "Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherford White" from 1883, portrays an ostentatious display of wealth common to the "Gilded Age." Sargent paints Mrs. White as an imposing figure dressed in an elegant white gown. He pays particular attention to her hand gestures and dress, giving the painting a realistic quality that is typical of Sargent's work.
The landscapes on display in the second segment drive home the importance of land in the American mindset. The artists of the Hudson River School imbue their paintings of countryside with majesty and hope through their images of billowing clouds, vast mountains and rich light.
Frederic Edwin Church's "Niagara", painted in 1857, is in a room all to itself, and for good reason. A quotation from The Albion, a contemporary newspaper, which was printed on the gallery wall, praised the work as "incontestably the finest oil picture ever painted on this side of the Atlantic…Mr. Church came, and saw and conquered."
The massive rushing waterfall, painted in deep, rich greens and blues under a calm sky is incredibly impressive.
The importance of land in the American consciousness is also visible in Richard Diebenkorn's abstract "Ocean Park #83," painted in 1975. It is difficult to make out the image of what appears to be the bird's eye view of a beach from the rigidly geometric painting. This exhibit demonstrates that even as painting styles change, the underlying ideals endure.
Common to all of the work is the notion that America has always been at the forefront of innovation and change. American democracy itself was a new experiment. Samuel F. B. Morse completed "The House of Representatives" in 1823, and it shows the American Congress at its hopeful beginnings. The high ceilings, rich decor and imposing chandelier lend importance to the political debate that appears to just be starting. The portrayal of each representative was based on the artist's study of each of the men. While the large scale of the painting displays the American Congress with reverence, the realistically painted faces and actions of the men themselves remind the viewer that the whole grand experiment rests on the backs of real individuals.
In the more modern paintings, it is apparent that American artists, like many historical American figures, develop styles that challenge their medium and the prevailing definitions of art itself.
Many of the pieces of contemporary art blur the line between painting and sculpture. "Yellow with Red Triangle," by Ellsworth Kelly (1973) hangs on the wall, but the two panels joined together to make the piece are about five inches thick. The bright solid colors and the dramatic shape make Kelly's work jump off the wall.
The subject matter of many of the 20th and 21st century paintings in the "Politics" section sheds light on cultural, racial and economic struggle to challenge common beliefs. The gallery displays some of the work of Rupert Garcia, who uses silk screen and bright solid colors to portray the racial and political tensions of the Vietnam War era.
Lorna Simpson's "Coiffure," completed in 1991, brings attention to an African-American woman's struggle to find and maintain an identity in a society that tends to lump all American-American women into one. The work is composed of three black and white photographs. The first shows the back of an African-American woman's head, the second is of a coiled braid, and the third is of the inside of a mask. Without a face, the subject is anonymous. The braid, a common hairstyle, only serves to make this woman blend in more. Finally, the mask keeps the woman's true character hidden from the rest of society.
A country whose government was originally based on novel principles continues to grow and change while its art follows a similar trajectory. As the five themes of the exhibit suggest, American art has focused on many of the same ideas since the 18th century, but true to the American innovative tendency, the styles and meanings behind the art have evolved through history.
And so, Mao sits next to Washington. Separately, they are iconic images from their time, but juxtaposed they say much more about the nature of American art itself.
The Corcoran is located at 500 Seventeenth Street NW and The American Evolution is on display until July 27, 2008.
Cheimets is News Editor and a Physics sophomore.
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