Art 102: Multicultural America

Viewing Assignment

Due May 8

Examine two 18^th century paintings (available on-line) by Euro-American artists:

1. Benjamin West, Colonel Guy Johnson and Karonghyontye (Captain David Hill) or Death of General James Wolfe
2. John Trumbull, Battle of Bunker Hill

These two paintings were painted to commemorate founders and founding moments of the United States. Whether intentionally or not, the paintings also demonstrate that the cultural and ethnic make-up of North America since 1492 has been complex, and that the founding of the nation itself involved peoples of many ethnic identities and cultural affilitations. West and Trumbull represented this nation as anything but a simple, monolithic identity. Their paintings remind us that African-Americans and indigenous peoples were always important in the composition and culture of North America. And their painting show us that, in such a nation, the identities of individuals become fluid.

It has never been easy to define the cultural and ethnic identity of Americans. When politicians, sociologists, and commentators today lament the supposed loss of cultural unity in contemporary society in the United States, they are overlooking images such as those above.

Analyze the way that art works created by North American artists represent the diversity in the United States. Choose either the painting by West or Trumbull and find out about the artists, and about the diverse individuals and identities represented in the painting. How is diversity treated in the painting? Is it celebrated? Is it problematic? What is revealed about the identities of the figures in the painting and the relationships between ethic groups? How doe the artist reveal the ways that he considers diversity to shape (or not shape) our culture?

Locate a 2-dimensional artwork (painting, drawing or photograph) created by a US artist between 1950 and 2008 that displays the cultural and ethnic diversity. Analyze it as you have the first painting, and compare the two artworks in terms of their treatment of diversity issues.

Note 1:

You must learn a great deal about the painting by West or Trumbull that you choose, including information about the artist, the event and/or persons depicted, the signs by which identities of different groups in North America are shown, and interactions between groups that are suggested.

Note 2:

You must choose the contemporary artwork from a responsible print source. Good journals in the library are Art Bulletin, Art News or Art in America. The artwork cannot be an advertisement. It must be the subject of a substantial article, and you must include a Xerox of the article and a good quality Xerox of the artwork. If you choose to use a book as your source, the book should be recent in publication (1970’s or later) and an academic press. You must include a Xerox of the title page, copyright page, and of 10 pages most relevant to your paper. You may use additional sources.

Note 3:

I will grade you on a number of criteria, including the level of originality, interest and relevance of the artwork to the assignment and of your ideas. I will also grade the quality of the image that you print out and submit and the quality of the prose that you employ. I will grade the quality of the sources you use. I will penalize you for late papers and will not accept a paper that is more than a week late. Review the syllabus under Format of Assignments and follow those guidelines carefully. Failure to do so will result in grade penalties.

No more than two pages of text will be accepted. No paper that omits a good quality image will be accepted. Include a bibliography of the sources that you have consulted, as well as your Xerox of your most important source.