United States

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Wyoming

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Wyoming by Thomas Moran

What makes an artwork patriotic?

Moran’s majestically spacious painting attests to the western American landscape as an apt setting for heroic nationalism. At the time this picture was painted, artists were traveling farther in search of ever more extraordinary scenes that could be understood in terms of the national will to explore this nation “from sea to shining sea.” Although Moran’s landscape is from 1906, it is based on sketches made during trips to Yellowstone in the 1870s.

Girl and Calf (Led Through Meadows)

Girl and Calf (Led Through Meadows) by George Fuller

Do you ever dream of spending time in the countryside?

Many of Fuller’s images of African Americans and gypsies feature the same exoticism found in this poetic image of a barefoot girl of ambiguous race, wearing fanciful jewelry and gently leading a calf. The son of a farmer, Fuller farmed for much of his own life, and his representations of rural girls, like those by his European contemporaries, have been interpreted as nostalgic yearnings for a simpler way of life that was being altered by modern technology.

Girl and Calf (Led Through Meadows)

Girl and Calf (Led Through Meadows) by George Fuller

Do you ever dream of spending time in the countryside?

Many of Fuller’s images of African Americans and gypsies feature the same exoticism found in this poetic image of a barefoot girl of ambiguous race, wearing fanciful jewelry and gently leading a calf. The son of a farmer, Fuller farmed for much of his own life, and his representations of rural girls, like those by his European contemporaries, have been interpreted as nostalgic yearnings for a simpler way of life that was being altered by modern technology.

Helen of California [Helen Wills]

Helen of California [Helen Wills] by Haig Patigian

What shapes our understanding of beauty?

Born in Centerville, California, Helen Newington Wills rose to fame in women’s singles tennis competitions during the 1920s and 1930s by winning multiple championships in the United States, France, and England. Athletic, intelligent, and artistic, Wills epitomized what Patigian regarded as the California Woman—a new type of classic feminine beauty. In this portrait, which he called Helen of California, he sought to model his subject as the embodiment of that ideal.

Helen of California [Helen Wills]

Helen of California [Helen Wills] by Haig Patigian

What shapes our understanding of beauty?

Born in Centerville, California, Helen Newington Wills rose to fame in women’s singles tennis competitions during the 1920s and 1930s by winning multiple championships in the United States, France, and England. Athletic, intelligent, and artistic, Wills epitomized what Patigian regarded as the California Woman—a new type of classic feminine beauty. In this portrait, which he called Helen of California, he sought to model his subject as the embodiment of that ideal.

California

California by Hiram Powers

How would you personify California?

In 1850, inspired by the California Gold Rush and the success of his sculpture Greek Slave (ca. 1873), Powers modeled a standing female nude, which he called El Dorado. Retitled California and cut in marble in 1858, the full figure was the first sculpture by an American artist to be acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This bust is the first of four known versions, and it was acquired by M. H. de Young and presented to this collection in 1916.

California

California by Hiram Powers

How would you personify California?

In 1850, inspired by the California Gold Rush and the success of his sculpture Greek Slave (ca. 1873), Powers modeled a standing female nude, which he called El Dorado. Retitled California and cut in marble in 1858, the full figure was the first sculpture by an American artist to be acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This bust is the first of four known versions, and it was acquired by M. H. de Young and presented to this collection in 1916.

O in Persian Costume

O in Persian Costume by Robert Henri
What is the impact of color here?

Here the artist’s wife wears a glimmering headdress and tunic laden with beadwork. The sharp color contrasts, variations in texture, and changeable brushwork create a dynamism that seems to describe the subject herself.