Art in America: Colonial Times to the Present Gallery 6 ‐ American Origins During the colonial period, the tastes of the prosperous elite of New England created an eager demand for portraits. American artists emulated their English counterparts, and works like Erastus Salisbury Field’s portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Judson exemplify the deliberate, flatly modeled likenesses characteristic of early American art. Field’s technique sits in marked contrast to the more sophisticated modeling and bold colors of the Neoclassical period, which rose to prominence following the American Revolution. Seeking to create a symbolic link between the origins of democracy and the aspiring American republic, Neoclassicism relied on the art and philosophy of ancient Greece for inspiration. American decorative arts also reflected the new republic’s ideals, as well as its growing economic prosperity. In the eighteenth century, the ornate furniture of the Englishman Thomas Chippendale was in high demand. His influence is reflected in the combination of functionality and intricate detail seen here in the maple and pine chest on chest. Following the Revolution, a more reserved style of spare form and elegant line emerged. Aaron Willard’s tall clock exemplifies the new Federalist style, a counterpart to Neoclassical painting. Often considered the first distinctly American style of painting, the Hudson River School emerged in the mid nineteenth century. Works by painters like Thomas Cole and Thomas Doughty often relayed allegorical narratives about the spirituality of the natural world, as well as growing concerns about the impact of urban life on eastern landscapes. Their implication of divine presence found similarities in the writings of Transcendentalist authors like Ralph Waldo Emerson. Alexander S. Gordon American, active 1795–1800 Cream Jug and Sugar Basin with Lid, ca. 1800 silver Museum purchase, 1961.194; 1961.195 Thomas Cole American, born England, 1801–1848 Stony Gap, Kaaterskill Clove, 1826–27 oil on wood panel Mr. and Mrs. Edwin S. Miller Bequest Fund, 1951.661 Erastus Salisbury Field American, 1805–1900 Portraits of Andrew and Hulda Judson, ca. 1835 oil on canvas Gift of Mrs. Rollin B. Judson, 1972.39 and 1972.40 Thomas Birch American, born England, 1779–1851 St. Eustatia, ca. 1840 oil on canvas Museum purchase, 1964.618 James Peale American, 1749–1831 Portrait of Katherine Francis, 1807 oil on canvas Museum Purchase, 1982.2 Homer Dodge Martin American, 1836–1897 On the Upper Hudson, mid 1860s oil on canvas Mr. and Mrs. Edwin S. Miller Bequest Fund, 1953.82 Artist Unknown American, early 19th century The Greenhow Children, ca. 1818 oil on canvas Gift of Miss Emily Keller, 1942.112 Daniel Huntington American, 1816–1906 Roman Ruins in Southern Italy, 1848 oil on canvas Gift of J. L. Brandeis and Sons Co., 1952.97 Aaron Willard American, 1757–1844 Tall Case Clock, ca. 1800 mahogany and brass Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Harold A. Ladwig, 1976.33 American, probably Connecticut Slant‐Front Desk, ca. 1780 cherry and pine Gift of Jack and Helen Drew, 1991.2 American, Sheraton‐style Chest of Drawers, ca. 1800 mahogany Gift of Mrs. F. B. Johnson, 1945.89 William Sidney Mount American, 1807–1868 The Blackberry Girls, 1840 oil on panel Museum Purchase with Funds Provided by Susan Storz Butler, 2001.1 Severin Roesen American, born Germany, ca.1815–1872 Fruit Still Life with Compote of Strawberries ca. 1865–70 oil on canvas Museum purchase with funds from the Gilbert M. and Martha H. Hitchcock Foundation, 2002.10 Chauncey Bradley Ives American, 1810–1894 Shepherd Boy and Kid, 1859 marble Gift of the Joslyn Art Museum Association in honor of its Fiftieth Anniversary, 2001.16 Thomas Doughty American, 1793–1856 The Trout Pool, 1832–37 oil on canvas Edwin S. Miller Bequest Fund, 1951.662 Gallery 7 West ‐ Across the Wide Missouri Meriwether Lewis and William Clark ascended the Missouri River in 1804, reaching the Pacific Ocean in November of the following year. Dispatched by President Thomas Jefferson to study the geography, natural history, and resources acquired in the Louisiana Purchase and to find an easily navigable route across the continent, they were followed by a vanguard of fur trappers, traders, and explorers, as well as artists. In 1832, the painter George Catlin was aboard the American Fur Company steamboat Yellow Stone as it made its way up the Missouri River past Council Bluffs, becoming the first artist to create an extensive record of the Upper Missouri. Catlin was soon followed by Karl Bodmer and Alfred Jacob Miller, and their work remains a vital record of the region at the moment between its first exploration by Euro‐Americans and the rapid settlement and industrialization that would forever change the West by the turn of the century. The landscape was not uninhabited when the first explorers crossed the Missouri River. Over many millennia, Indian nations had formed complex societies throughout the Plains and Rocky Mountains. Catlin, Bodmer, and Miller were witnesses to a way of life that would be almost completely transformed within the coming decades, as tribe after tribe were removed from their homelands and suffered attrition from disease and other forces. The ceremonial and utilitarian artifacts in this gallery that were created by Indian tribes of the High Plains remind us of the interwoven history of the West, one that is still being negotiated in the twenty‐first century. Gallery 7 East ‐ Faces of the Upper Missouri Decades before George Catlin, Karl Bodmer, and Alfred Jacob Miller first saw the West, Upper Missouri Indian tribes sent regular emissaries to Washington, D.C. Thomas Jefferson and later presidents were eager to establish relationships to ensure safe passage for a growing tide of traders, trappers, and emigrants impatient to explore and claim land for an expanding nation. While Catlin, Bodmer, and Miller worked in the field, sketching what they considered were ethnographically accurate records of their subjects, hundreds of Plains Indians had already visited formal portrait studios in the nation’s capital. Beginning in 1821, Indians were brought to Washington, D.C. on diplomatic missions by Thomas L. McKenney, superintendent of Indian trade in Georgetown, who commissioned Charles Bird King and others to paint portraits of visiting dignitaries, with an eye toward building a National Indian Gallery. In 1824, McKenney was appointed superintendent of Indian affairs for the federal government and carried on his program with renewed energy. Although he lost his political appointment in 1830, he pressed forward with his plan to publish his Indian gallery, surreptitiously shipping the paintings to Philadelphia, where they were duplicated by portraitist Henry Inman. Inman’s paintings were in turn used to create lithographic plates, and between 1837 and 1844, McKenney and co‐author James Hall published a three‐volume portfolio, The History of the Indian Tribes of North America. These elegant, hand‐tinted prints portrayed over 120 sitters, along with biographical and historical essays, creating a vital profile of the peoples and culture of the Upper Missouri. Carl Ferdinand Wimar American, born Germany, 1828–1862 Indians Stealing Horses, 1854 oil on canvas Museum purchase, 1951.80 George Catlin American, 1796–1872 A Prairie Picnic Disturbed by a Rushing Herd of Buffalo, 1854 oil on canvas Gift of Mr. Carman H. Messmore, 1966.624 George Catlin American, 1796–1872 Buffalo Hunt, ca. 1832–35 oil on canvas Gift of W. F. Davidson, 1966.621 George Catlin American, 1796–1872 Buffalo Hunt, Upper Missouri, ca. 1832–35 oil on canvas Gift of Mr. Carman H. Messmore, 1966.625 George Catlin American, 1796–1872 Indian Buffalo Hunter, ca. 1832–35 oil on panel Museum purchase, 1953.251 attributed to Titian Peale American, 1799–1885 Western Landscape, ca. 1819–20 oil on canvas Gift of M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York, 1978.268 William T. Ranney American, 1813–1857 Halt on the Prairie, ca. 1850 oil on paper Bequest of Mrs. John F. Merriam, 1998.25 William de la Montagne Cary American, 1840–1922 Jim Bridger with Sir William Drummond Stewart, 1872 oil on canvas Museum purchase with funds provided in part by Michael and Gail Yanney in honor of Dr. James O. Armitage, M.D., King of Aksarben, 1999, and the Art Purchase Fund, 1999.46 Karl Bodmer Swiss, 1809–1893 Beaver Lodge on the Missouri, 1833 watercolor on paper Gift of Enron Art Foundation, 1986.49.175 On their way upstream from Fort Union on the keelboat Flora, Bodmer made a study of a large beaver lodge that they passed on July 17, 1833. Karl Bodmer Swiss, 1809–1893 First Chain of the Rocky Mountains above Fort McKenzie, 1833 watercolor on paper Gift of Enron Art Foundation, 1986.49.210 While en route to Fork McKenzie, Maximilian noted in his journal on August 7 that he had glimpsed what he supposed to be the distant summits of the Rocky Mountains. On September 9, he wrote that he and Bodmer had gone into the hills above the river “to paint . the Bear’s Paw and to make a drawing of the first chain of the Rocky Mountains,” actually an isolated uplift known today as the Highwoods. Karl Bodmer Swiss, 1809–1893 Interior of a Mandan Earth Lodge, 1833–34 watercolor and ink on paper Gift of Enron Art Foundation, 1986.261.a This scene, an outstanding example of Bodmer’s careful rendering of detail, shows the interior of the Mandan lodge that was the home of Dípäuch, an old and respected man who told Maximilian much about the history and beliefs of his people. Portions of the picture were sketched over a period of several months at Mih‐Tutta‐Hangkusch, from early December 1833 until mid April of the following year.