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PhxArt Virtual Visit: From Sea to Shining Sea
July 3, 2020 / Regina / Comments Off on PhxArt Virtual Visit: From Sea to Shining Sea
From Sea to Shining Sea On July 4, 2020, the United States of America marks the 244th anniversary of its independence from colonial rule by Great Britain. Given the moniker Independence Day, July 4 has traditionally been a day to celebrate freedom and a spirit of self-determination, although for many Americans, the freedom and equal opportunity to determine the course of personal liberty are ideals that are yet to be realized, even to this day.
The history of the United States is a complex and imperfect one. It does, however, remain marked by continual progress and struggle toward that early ideal of a more perfect union. For this week’s virtual visit, we reflect on works within our American, Western American, modern, and contemporary art collections that capture elements of the past few hundred years of our complicated national history, while also sharing the perspectives of those for whom the quest for liberty and independence remains an ongoing pursuit. Across the centuries, artists have created works from everyday scenes to industrial studies to sweeping, idealized vistas of frontiers that reflect their personal understandings and experiences of the United States. Arranged chronologically, the works below capture slices of the American narrative through the ages. As you examine these objects, consider the following questions: How do these works capture life in the United States over its history? Which voices and experiences are represented? Which are missing? How has our definition and portrayal of what it means to be “American” shifted over the centuries? How do the perspectives presented in these works match your own experiences? How do they differ? Portrait of John A. Graham (c.1798) by John Singleton Copley
Landing of the Pilgrims, Dec. 22, 1620, (c. 1803-1806) by Michele Felice Corné
Frontiersman (1875) by Charles Stanley Reinhardt
Baseball Illustration (1889) by Edward Windsor Kemble
Industrial Scene (1891) by Joseph Pennell
Looking Across the Grand Canyon (c.1910) by Edward Henry Potthast
The Laundress (1916) by Robert Henri
Buffalo Hunt (1930) by Lone Wolf
Little Boy Lives in a Copper Camp (1939) by Lew Davis
Boulder Dam (c. 1934-1935) by Helen Blumenschein
G.I. (1944) by Philip C. Curtis
African Genesis (1960) by Eugene Grigsby
Untitled (Time of Change) (1963-1965) by Bruce Davidson
