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History of American Art

American art began with European influences during the colonial period, with early artists like John White. The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw the emergence of American artists such as Benjamin West and John Singleton Copley, alongside the Hudson River School's Romantic landscapes. Post-World War II, New York became the center of the art world, leading to a diverse range of modern and postmodern art movements in the U.S.

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18 views3 pages

History of American Art

American art began with European influences during the colonial period, with early artists like John White. The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw the emergence of American artists such as Benjamin West and John Singleton Copley, alongside the Hudson River School's Romantic landscapes. Post-World War II, New York became the center of the art world, leading to a diverse range of modern and postmodern art movements in the U.S.

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pdizon840
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© © All Rights Reserved
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History Of American art

How did American art start?

Early colonial art on the East Coast initially relied on artists from Europe, with John White
(1540-c. 1593) the earliest example. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, artists primarily
painted portraits, and some landscapes in a style based mainly on English painting.
Visual art of the United States or American art is visual art made in the United States or by U.S.
artists. Before colonization, there were many flourishing traditions of Native American art, and where
the Spanish colonized Spanish Colonial architecture and the accompanying styles in other media
were quickly in place. Early colonial art on the East Coast initially relied on artists from Europe, with
John White (1540-c. 1593) the earliest example. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, artists
primarily painted portraits, and some landscapes in a style based mainly on English painting.
Furniture-makers imitating English styles and similar craftsmen were also established in the major
cities, but in the English colonies, locally made pottery remained resolutely utilitarian until the 19th
century, with fancy products imported.

But in the later 18th century two U.S. artists, Benjamin West and John Singleton Copley, became the
most successful painters in London of history painting, then regarded as the highest form of art,
giving the first sign of an emerging force in Western art. American artists who remained at home
became increasingly skilled, although there was little awareness of them in Europe. In the early 19th
century the infrastructure to train artists began to be established, and from 1820 the Hudson River
School began to produce Romantic landscape painting that were original and matched the huge scale
of U.S. landscapes. The American Revolution produced a demand for patriotic art, especially history
painting, while other artists recorded the frontier country. A parallel development taking shape in rural
U.S. was the American craft movement, which began as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution.

After 1850 Academic art in the European style flourished, and as richer Americans became very
wealthy, the flow of European art, new and old, to the US began; this has continued ever since.
Museums began to be opened to display much of this. Developments in modern art in Europe came
to the U.S. from exhibitions in New York City such as the Armory Show in 1913. After World War II,
New York replaced Paris as the center of the art world. Since then many U.S. movements have
shaped Modern and Postmodern art. Art in the United States today covers a huge range of styles.

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