Revolution and Art in the 1700's

 

The Classical art era was sort of America's founding art era.  Much of America's identity is and was centered around classical art.  The revolution came during a period when many classically trained artists were making their way across the pond to depict life in the colonies.  Through the paintings below you can see how American artists depicted the war compared to how a British artist depicted the war.  When looking at the examples below think about how far away and disconnected the king was at the time of the war.

John Trumbull

The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton

Jan 3 1777 ca 1789

This has been said to be one of Trumbull's favorite paintings.  The painting depicts a major turning point in the war.  The painting tries to depict that even though an influential leader has been taken out someone can still step up and win the battle.  Which is what George Washington actually did.  The artist uses light and shadow to draw the viewer's focus to the painting's main aspect. Which is the death of General Mercer.  

The Battle of Princeton by James Peale, ca. 1782

This is another painting of the Battle of Princeton.  Here Peale keeps most of the painting dark and ominous to reflect the finality of war, but still uses lighting to focus onto Washington who was leading the men.  Here you can also see that there are no straight lines and when looking into the distance to see the enemy all you can see is sort of a blurred red.  This brings about a sort of fogginess of war. 

The Capture of Yorktown, 19 October 1781 by Louis-Nicolas van Blarenberghe, 1785

This painting is quite unique.  It was painted in the UK to commemorate a British victory by a painter who never stepped foot in America.  This painting depicts more of an Italian landscape and does a poor job of depicting what the landscape would look like at the point of surrender.  This painting uses a lot of blending and shading that essentially blurs out most things except for the objects at the forefront of the painting.  This is an example of the misconnection that the British leaders had with the colonists which assisted in causing the revolution.

“Art in American Colonies and the United States, c. 1600–1860.” Smarthistory, smarthistory.org/reframing-art-history/art-in-american-colonies-and-the-united-states-to-1860/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

“Ten Great Revolutionary War Paintings, 1775-1790.” The American Revolution Institute, 10 Dec. 2020, www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/treasures-of-the-american-revolution/revolutionary-war-paintings/.

“Art in American Colonies and the United States, c. 1600–1860.” Smarthistory, smarthistory.org/reframing-art-history/art-in-american-colonies-and-the-united-states-to-1860/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.