In Little Girl in White (Queenie Burnett), 1907, painter George Bellows brought attention to the lives of marginalized street children in an era before child labor laws protected them. Other images, such as Georgia O’Keeffe, 1924, a photograph of the painter captured by her partner Alfred Stieglitz, reflect the American ethos of individualism. James Van Der Zee opened a photography studio in Harlem and extensively documented the lives of African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance, yielding an important chronicle of the period, including Sistersof 1926. She included a caption for her portrait, “I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance,” indicating that she marketed her image in order to promote her beliefs.Īrtists of the 20th century continued to extend the purposes of portraiture. These included images of people of different social classes and portrayals of individuals who embodied certain ideals, such as a portrait of abolitionist and activist Sojourner Truth, 1864. Meanwhile, the advent of photography introduced inexpensive prints that were traded and collected in the first photo albums. Catlin portrayed these individuals because of his personal interest in what he saw as the disappearance of Native culture and his drive to document it, rather than commercial motives. This shifting dynamic is seen in two of George Catlin’s portraits of American Indians, The Female Eagle-Shawano, 1830, and Boy Chief - Ojibbeway, 1843. Its domestic setting (the subjects sit on a high-back sofa) and the intimacy and tenderness conveyed by mother and daughters distinguish it from Gilbert Stuart’s public portraiture.įrom the 19th century onward, new technology, the expansion of the country, and vast social and political change spurred artists to embrace modern media, like photography, as well as novel approaches predicated on changes in the relationship between the artist and subject. Hugh McCurdy) and Her Daughters, Mary Jane and Letitia Grace, circa 1806. Joshua Johnson, among the few African American artists practicing in the area of portraiture during the early 19th century, painted many such family documents, including Grace Allison McCurdy (Mrs. Gradually, as the economy grew, an entrepreneurial class of often self-trained portraitists began to serve a growing middle class who wished to preserve their likenesses for personal, rather than public, reasons, such as to record their family lineage for posterity. Portraits were available to very few, largely European colonists or immigrant Americans-those who could afford this costly luxury (and a home to place it in). They projected their personal qualities, such as prudence, leadership, and strength their accomplishments, whether military, professional, or intellectual and their social role or position, such as matriarch, landowner, or politician.Īccess to portraits in colonial America and during the republic’s early years was limited. Very consciously, these individuals constructed, with artists, public memorials of how they wished to be remembered by future generations. We know America’s early colonists, leaders, politicians, merchants, and philosophers through their portraits. Gilbert captures a broad-shouldered, ruddy-faced, and serious president who eyes us directly, full of character and probity. When you think of the nation’s first president, the image that comes to mind is likely one created by portraitist Gilbert Stuart, George Washington (Vaughan portrait), 1795. The basic fascination with capturing and studying images of ourselves and of others-for what they say about us, as individuals and as a people-is what makes portraiture so compelling.įor centuries, portraits have formed an important record of America’s people. What might a portrait express about the person portrayed? How does it reflect the sitter’s community, setting, family, or friends? What does the portrait reveal about the artist? ![]() What is a portrait? What truths and questions does a portrait communicate?
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