About the American Art in Philadelphia Walk in Philadelphia
It is perhaps no surprise that American art begins with the founding of the American republic and in the fertile intellectual hubbub of Philadelphia. Led by such visionaries as Gilbert Stuart and Charles Willson Peale, Philadelphia became a locus for American aesthetic explorations for nearly a century. In this three-hour walking seminar led by a scholar in American art we will turn our attention to the important artists of the early 19th century and the institutions they founded in Philadelphia as we paint a portrait, so to speak, of American art at its beginning.
Philadelphia's Contribution to American Art Explored
We will begin our discussion in the shadow of Independence Hall where Charles Willson Peale, a friend of Thomas Jefferson and the great portraitist of George Washington, lived for a time and used the structure to display his growing collection of art and natural specimens. We will consider Peale's museum (generally considered the first modern museum) in the context of th
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It is perhaps no surprise that American art begins with the founding of the American republic and in the fertile intellectual hubbub of Philadelphia. Led by such visionaries as Gilbert Stuart and Charles Willson Peale, Philadelphia became a locus for American aesthetic explorations for nearly a century. In this three-hour walking seminar led by a scholar in American art we will turn our attention to the important artists of the early 19th century and the institutions they founded in Philadelphia as we paint a portrait, so to speak, of American art at its beginning.
Philadelphia's Contribution to American Art Explored
We will begin our discussion in the shadow of Independence Hall where Charles Willson Peale, a friend of Thomas Jefferson and the great portraitist of George Washington, lived for a time and used the structure to display his growing collection of art and natural specimens. We will consider Peale's museum (generally considered the first modern museum) in the context of the Enlightenment, which will allow us then to turn our attention to his work as an artist. Focusing on Peale's portrait gallery hanging in the historic Second Bank of the United States, we'll talk about early American portraiture and such figures as Stuart, Copely, and West. We will also address how the institutionalization of “American Fine Art” took shape in the cultural and artistic hub of the young nation, and place art making and viewing within a larger context of transatlantic influences, philosophical inquiry, and evolving civic and national identities.
Our walk will then take us to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the United States' first successful art academy. Here we will encounter Peale's seminal "The Artist in His Museum," along with works by West, Stuart, Krimmel, Raphaelle Peale, and other Pennsylvania artists in the Academy's fine standing collection of American art. We'll look at the role of the Academy and various art movements and communities in the region through the early 20th century up to today.
