American Art
77AMERICAN PAINTERS
This is a brief overview of some of my favorite paintings by American artists. Justice cannot be done in this short space to all of the wonderfully creative artists who have been Americans, so I feature my personal favorites. My preference is Realism, so that is what is displayed here.
JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY
John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) was from Boston and he is the greatest painter of the colonial period. In 1774, already wildly successful with fortune and fame, he moved to London as the American Revolutionary War was incubating. He intended to return to America but never did.
WILLIAM SIDNEY MOUNT
William Sidney Mount (1808-1868) was from New York, spending most of his career on Long Island. He became well known for his scenes of everyday life, in particular with themes involving music. He was the first famous American painter who stayed in America.
GEORGE CALEB BINGHAM
George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879) was from Missouri and is known as the painter of the American Western Frontier. His genre paintings were wildly popular in eastern America during his career, where many people clamored to see what the West looked like.
FREDERIC CHURCH
Frederic Church (1826-1900) was from Connecticut and a landscape painter of the Hudson River School, where he studied under Thomas Cole. In 1859 his painting The Heart of the Andes sold for $10,000—the highest price ever paid for a work of art by an American at the time.
WINSLOW HOMER
Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was from Massachusetts and America's greatest watercolorist. He first found success as a magazine illustrator in a career that would span 20 years. During the American Civil War he was a pictorial reporter. He lived in Maine, 75 feet from the ocean, the last 27 years of his life, and there became famous for his paintings of sea scenes.
EDWARD LAMSON HENRY
Edward Lamson Henry (1841-1919) was from New York City and very popular in his day as a genre painter of historical scenes from American life. He studied in Paris under Courbet with Monet and Renoir. Though not a painter of their stature, his contemporaries treated his paintings as historic reconstructions because of his great attention to detail.
HENRY O TANNER
Henry O. Tanner (1859-1937) was the first renowned black painter. He was from Philadelphia, where he studied under Thomas Eakins. He moved to France in 1891 and lived the rest of his life there. He achieved fame primarily due to his religious paintings (his father was a pastor).
FREDERIC REMINGTON
Frederic Remington (1861-1909) was from New York and is the painter of the American Old West. He also was a sculptor and writer. Remington was one of the few artists who actually traveled throughout the Old West as it was disappearing. He illustrated a book for Theodore Roosevelt as well.
GRANT WOOD
Grant Wood (1891-1942) was from Iowa and created the most iconic of all American paintings. He specialized in scenes of the rural Midwest United States and was part of the Regionalism Movement, which is Realist Modern Art. His favorite painter was Jan van Eyck.
EDWIN HOPPER
Edwin Hopper (1882-1967) was from New York and his favorite painter is Rembrandt. He lived most of his life in Greenwich Village, and achieved lasting fame as a Realist painter. Hopper was extremely influential to future American artists.
ANDREW WYETH
Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) was from Pennsylvania and a fabulously popular painter with the American Public. His father was an artist and by age 21 Wyeth was already a success as a painter of Realism, a school in opposition to Abstract Art. Though disdained by art critics, his works are displayed in the major museums of the United States.
NORMAN ROCKWELL
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) was from New York City and became one of the most famous American painters. He first achieved fame through the 321 covers he created over a period of 47 years for the magazine, Saturday Evening Post.
AMERICAN ART
I have previously published six Hubs about art including Rembrandt,
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I just love the Hudson River School. Thanks for the hub.
Vladimir! Thank you for winning the prize as my first visitor! And you are most welcome, my friend.
Nice pics, just gotta love that American Gothic..
samanthagardner— Your face is a work of art in itself! :D
Seriously folks: The Hudson River school produced much beloved art. I love it, too. Thank you for your comments. And welcome to the Hub pages Community!
greatamerican— I do love it! Though I have seen it so many times, on closer inspection, much more is there. Thank you for your comment.
"CHRISTINA'S WORLD" BY ANDREW WYETH 1948 And "THE BANJO LESSON" BY HENRY O. TANNER 1893 will look beautiful on my wall! You have an eye for art! Do you have any art by new artists? Say over the last five years? If so who? I have been browsing Art.com and their are so many beautiful pieces to choose from.
kebennett1— Yes, I do. I reviewed them on my Hubs entitled "Art in my Home" and "Fine Arts."
Thank you very much for your compliment. I agree that the two you chose are wonderful creations.
Great choices. Hopper is my favorite.
Ralph,
I agree. That painting by Hopper evokes so much inside me as a former "nighthawk" myself. It is my favorite in this gallery.
Thanks, buddy, for checking it out and leaving word.
A very nice summary of American masters, James.
There is a wonderful museum in New Britain, Connecticut dedicated to American artists. I believe the name is Museum of American Art.
Great Choices James. Loving the American Gothic !
douglas— How I appreciate the ongoing support of a busy man such as yourself—marathon runner and all! :-)
I believe you are right and everyone should pay a visit.
Bail Up!— Welcome to Hub Pages! I just bookmarked your Profile Page so I may peruse your work tomorrow. I absolutely LOVE your avatar (family photo). Thank you for visiting.
They are all wonderful, my favorite is Remington. I will go back and read your other Hubs on art. I will bookmark.
I am embarrassed about my ignorance of American art. Thanks.
jiberish— You know . . . I love that Remington. I first selected a little known painting of an Indian squaw freezing her butt off in deep winter. And it is a GREAT painting. But then, while researching his life story I ran across this painting and . . . I thought . . . one rarely sees aqua so used by an artist. I had to use it. :D
Thank you for visiting and commenting. I just now bookmarked your profile page so I may peruse your work tomorrow.
steve rensch— Don't be. Most people are and I know this. That is the very reason I published this Hub, Brother. Because American artists get the short-shrift, generally.
I like the last couple of paintings the best. Hubby has a book with some stunning reproductions of American art portraying American Indians. I was thinking of trying to scan some but they are large. Interesting hub James
Norman Rockwell is hilarious! I love that one!
Ethel,
Do you know who the artist is that painting the Indians? JQ
Thank you for your support and your comments.
advisor4qb— I do too! He had quite a sense of humor. A lot of nice detail in there; and I dig the color of that floor. Thanks for your comment.
Interesting and informative Hub, Thank you...
I love the painting by Bingham...struck me as ironic the little cat tied to the prow of the bateau being manned by fur traders...
We are privileged to own an oil by Les Lambson, a wonderful American artist...Have you seen his work..?
maven101— I was not aware of Lambson until now. I just went and viewed some of his art—gorgeous, shimmering.
You know, that cat really struck me, too. And he is tied—as if he was going to jump in the water. Me thinks not. :)
Thanks for visiting and leaving your remarks. I appreciate it.
I'm a artist myself,and norman rockwell has always been my favorite.
bill yon— Cool! It is a pleasure to meet another artist. I admire and enjoy Rockwell's work. Most critics don't like it—too sentimental they say. Thanks very much for leaving word here today.
Unbelievable Hub! We tend to underestimate the quality of American art. Thank you.
ecoggins— Why, I thank you, sir, for your kind words. These are some pretty good paintings. I appreciate the visit.
Wonderful and fascinating paintings, I love them all, James.
katyzzz— I am glad you enjoyed them. Thank you for your kind comments.
Great work my friend,these painters belong to worlds best of all times
gusripper— Thank you very much! I appreciate your encouraging words. :D
I love to look at your art hubs and stop by to looks at all the beautiful paintings. Last year (or so) I went to DC to check out the Hopper show and realized, once again, how you really have to see paintings in person to appreciate them. The light in his paintings is so beautiful, so rich, I just stood in front of some of them for so long, entranced.
I'm a pulp art fan who finds herself drawn to the Hopper painting... something about the colors, the people. Maybe it's just me. Once again you have not failed to inspire me to want to go searching for more knowlege. I'm going to have to quit looking at your hubs if I'm ever to get anything done... I'm off to google Henry O. Tanner. Thanks for the great hub, James.
James, very nice! Thanks for sharing. I like landscape painting, so my fav is 'Twilight Wilderness'
Great collection.
Dolores Monet— I agree with you that the Hopper paintings have to be seen in person to appreciate them fully. Come to think of it, that applies to all of the paintings I have seen in person. I am always surprised at how beautiful they really are when I see the originals up close for the first time.
Thank you for your remarks. :D
Linda Myshrall— You are most welcome! Thank you for visiting. The Hopper painting evokes the loneliness of people after the bar closes— to me. Tanner is a recent discovery for me and I just love the tenderness of the old man patiently teaching the young boy.
DynamicS— Thank you very much! I, too, love landscape paintings. I did consider a few more for this Hub, but I wanted to keep it small this time.
Very informative, and these paintings are simply marvelous.
Melody Lagrimas— Thank you for visiting my Hub and leaving your kindly comments. :-)
Thanks for expanding my knowledge of American Art, James. It's hard to pick a favorite though - each artist you have featured has such a different, unique style and his work should probably only be compared to his other works. I'm wondering though - where are the female artists?
Nemingha— That is a good question. I looked at Georgia O'Keefe's galleries and they were pretty flowers, mostly, that didn't quite strike me as these did.
I agree it is hard to pick a favorite with these distinctive styles. I am sure appreciate you for taking the time to visit and leave your comments.
What, no Arnold Frieberg? None the less excelent choices!
James your writings are so diverse in style and topics. I am use to reading your writings on Christianity, however I was really impress with your knowledge of American Art. Keep up the good work. Oh, I am so glad to have seen Norman Rockwell Painting up there. I remember him as a child his drawing on POST. Great Hub again
Verily, Verily I say unto thee: Friberg was one of two artists I had on the list (O'Keefe being the other) that I cut right at the end. I wanted to have 12 artists because, well . . . I have a thing for that number. :) I do love his art.
In the future, I will have to do American Art II because I had 6 or 7 other semi-finalists that got cut.
Thanks for reading and leaving your comment. Good choice for a missing artist in this collection!
Royal Diadem— I love that particular Rockwell. It is so funny! And it reminds me of country girls I knew who were scrappers. I enjoy most all his work.
Thank you for your kind comments. I have a variety of subjects that interest me most and these are those. :D
Excellent choices. My mother is a professional artist so I will have to choose her for my number one. There are so many exceptional artists that it is hard to choose just a few.
Patti Ann— Maybe you should do a Hub on your mother's art. I would enjoy viewing it. Thanks for visiting and commenting. :)
Tnanks for the comment. I loved this hub, good work!
lizrenee44— You are welcome! I am so glad you enjoyed this fine art. :D
gpound— You are welcome. Thank you for your visit. Welcome to the Hub Pages Community!
Hi James,
Good choices all. The Museum of Printing History in Houston had an exhibit of 40+ Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post covers a few years ago and it was wonderful to see that much of a collection all displayed in one room.
Also our Museum of Fine Arts in Houston has a fairly extensive Remington collection of paintings.
As you say, it is always fun to see these things in person.
Peggy W— Thank you. I would enjoy a Rockwell exhibit very much. Remington is an interesting artist. He painted several pieces I really like. I appreciate your visit. Always a pleasure to hear from you.
love the Wyeths, especially Andrew. we tend to forget about American painters...
cosette— Yes, we do. It was this curious neglect that sparked the idea of this Hub in me. Thank you for visiting and leaving word. Welcome to the Hub Pages Community!
Excellent artwork here...very detailed and insightful. Thank you for posting it. :)
WildEyes— Thank you for visiting and your thoughtful comments. You are most welcome, too.
You gave me a tour of American art, with a historical perspective. You make art education very easy to take. Wyeth, Remington, Rockwell, and Homer I knew about...but the others I needed to know about, too. Thanks.
patful— Thank you for coming to view one of favorite works. It was a joy to put together. I also appreciate your nice compliment. And you are welcome.
Great hub! Winslow Homer and Andrew Wyeth are my two favorite American artists. Thanks for sharing!
habee— Thank you! I love the work of those two artists, too. I am so glad you enjoyed this Hub. I appreciate you letting me know that you did. And you are welcome.
GEORGE CALEB BINGHAM, GRANT WOOD AND HENRY O TANNER ARE AWESOME!GREAT HUB!
skeri— You have excellent taste! Thank you very much for the visit and the compliments! Welcome to the Hub Pages Community.
I enjoy Homer, Wyeth, Rockwell, and Hopper's work very much.
mhuze— You picked some supreme paintings there. Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate it.
Found my way here googling to find out who painted the marvelous picture of the banjo lesson I just saw on HuffPo. Thank you for the answer... and as a bonus, a truly beautiful set of paintings, especially the intro (for me not being American) to Remington and Hopper.
durban_legend— You are welcome. I am well pleased that you found your way to my Hub. I love these paintings. The Tanner is perhaps my favorite. Thank you for letting me know that you appreciate my gallery.
You have an excellent selection of artists and paintings. I remember in my school days artists like Norman Rockwell were sneered at but has proved to be important.
I must admit that I have always loved Norman Rockwell paintings. I am well pleased to see him being reconsidered these days by the community of art critics that was pretty mean to him back in the day.
Thank you for visiting my Hub. I appreciate the kind compliments. :D
Vladimir Uhri 2 years ago
Great pictures, James. Thanks.