Revolutionary Art
Revolutionary
Art
The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, 17 June, 1775
John Trumbull; painted after 1815–before 1831 in Boston, MA
John Trumball is one of the most well-known artists of
the early American Era. He served as an officer in the American Revolution from
1775 – 1777. In 1780, he traveled to Europe to study painting. He returned to
the United States with a mission to “to immortalize the country’s struggle for independence with a series of
compositions based on the critical events of the conflict, thus creating a new
iconography for the new nation
This painting depicts
the climax of the Battle of Bunker’s Hill, one of the earliest engagements of
the war. After a hard fight, the British overran the Patriot defenses on Bunker’s
Hill forcing the Americans to retreat. One of the last Americans to stand in
defiance of the British was Major General Joseph Warren, whose death is
depicted in Trumball’s painting. In true Neo-Classical fashion, Trumball
focuses on the moment of Warren’s death with the chaos of battle all around
him. Neo-Classical paintings often focused on acts of heroic self-sacrifice in
veneration of classical ideals. Trumball painted Warren’s body limp in the arms
of his fellow revolutionaries, deliberately evoking the many paintings of Jesus
Christ’s body being removed from the cross in order to turn Warren into a
martyr for the American cause.
Trumball’s technical skill is also on full display in
this painting. He utilizes an almost ethereal light to draw the viewer’s eyes
to the dying man amidst the chaos of the battle. This light serves to illuminate
the scene to reinforce the theme of holy martyrdom. Trumball also uses diagonal
lines to, not only indicate dynamic action and movement, but to also highlight
how the British are overwhelming the Patriots.
The American Revolution did not just inspire new artwork
to commemorate its heroes, it also inspired others to take up the mantle of democracy
and personal freedoms, particularly in France
Liberty Leading the
People
Eugene Delacroix; painted
in 1830 in Paris, France
Eugene Delacroix was already a leader in the French Neo-Classical movement when he painted his allegorical depiction of the July Revolution of 1830 which toppled King Charles X. While the French Revolution ended in 1799, the early 19th Century was still an era of uprisings in the name of liberty and the July Revolution of 1830 was the precursor to the June Uprisings of 1832 that were immortalized by Victor Hugo in Les Misérables.
Delacroix’s painting is full of Neo-Classical symbolism and depicts Liberty like a classical Roman goddess. Her face is in profile, like a ruler on a Roman coin, as she looks over her shoulder at the people she leads. Her dress is tattered and torn as a symbol of the ill manner in which the aristocracy has treated her. On her head is a Phrygian cap which has long been associated with freedom ever since the Romans would give one of these caps to freed slaves to denote their new status. It was a well known symbol of liberty and freedom in the 18th and 19th Centuries and it’s symbolism has been repeated in many allegorical depictions of freedom well into the 20th Century.
(depiction of Columbia from a World War I poster by Paul Stahl)
“Few world leaders have had a better understanding of the ways
in which visual art can do political work on their behalf than did Napoleon
Bonaparte
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres;
painted in 1806 in Paris, France
Napoleon rose to power after the French Revolution and declared himself Emperor in 1804. Ingres’ painting depicts Napoleon in his imperial glory. In true Neo-Classical fashion, Ingres draws inspiration from many classical elements to depict Napoleon as a ruler ordained by divine providence.
One such influence from antiquity is the Statue of Zeus at Olympia by the Greek sculptor Phidias.
This sculpture served as the
basis for many depictions of rulers and in Christian iconography and by the
time of Ingres’ painting, the allusions to divinity and divine right associated
with this pose were already well established.
Napoleon understood the power
of these symbols in solidifying his status in the minds of the people and most
of the portraits that he commissioned during this time all contained similar
elements.
Works Cited
Davis, Elliot Bostwick. "The Death of General
Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, 17 June, 1775." June 2020. Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston. https://collections.mfa.org/objects/34260/the-death-of-general-warren-at-the-battle-of-bunkers-hill?ctx=8d90315c-5370-4266-9cda-40c483ab6153&idx=0.
11 March 2021.
Dorbani, Malika Bouabdellah. "July 28: Liberty Leading
the People." n.d. Louvre. https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/july-28-liberty-leading-people.
12 March 2021.
The American Revolution Institute. "Ten Great
Revolutionary War Paintings 1775-1790." n.d. The American Revolution
Institute. https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/treasures-of-the-american-revolution/revolutionary-war-paintings/.
11 March 2021.
Zygmont, Bryan. "Delacroix, Liberty Leading the
People." n.d. Khan Academy.
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/later-europe-and-americas/enlightenment-revolution/a/delacroix-liberty-leading.
12 March 2021.
—. "Ingres, Napoleon on his Imperial Throne." n.d.
Khan Academy.
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/romanticism/romanticism-in-france/a/ingres-napoleon-on-his-imperial-throne.
12 March 2021.
Fred, I like how you chose to go with a revoultionary theme, the art you chose tells such a story and is so full. With the first two works, death as a subject seems to be a large focal point, especialy since these are depicting a climax in a battle. The third piece, well not directly showing or implying death, surley gives an erie feeling, given who the subjet is and what had taken place for him to get there. I also appricated how you went into detail about the inspirations of these works and explained a lot of the symbolysm opposed just staing things that are clear just by looking at the paintings. Good work!
ReplyDeleteI also went with a revolutionary theme! I like how we chose completely different paintings to illustrate this. In particular, I am a big fan of the first painting. Something that I think is interesting about it is the way that as you look further into the background, the colors become more muted. The brightest colors are those who are in the middle of the action, which accentuates and highlights them. This also provides a sense of depth for the viewer - the darker colors are closer to the viewer's eye, making them appear the be in the foreground of the action. The lighter colors fade away into the background, making them appear further from the action.
ReplyDeleteFred, I too went with a revolutionary theme because I thought the paintings done during this time really shows Neoclassical art in the best way. Did you have any trouble finding three works of art done by three different artists? When I first began researching art and the revolution, I thought there were going to be so many options to choose from that really captured the war. Instead, I found most of it was done by Jacques-Louis David! But you found some awesome pieces that weren't by him. I actually chose "Napoleon on His Imperial Thrown" as well and had a lot of fun learning about him and his role during the revolution. Really nice post, you're an awesome writer!
ReplyDeleteHi Laura, thank you for your comments on my post. I did actually have a hard time selecting pieces and actually ended up moving up to the Romantic Era for two of my choices by mistake. I will have to be more careful in the future. Finding pieces for the American Revolution were a little bit easier since the Americans were commissioning art to create a new mythology for their new country, but I struggled with the French Revolution. I think part of the reason for this is how much turmoil France was going through at the time and how much art was being commissioned and painted to commemorate it. I continue to enjoy reading your blogs and seeing the works you select and appreciate your insights and contributions to my posts.
DeleteI too went with the theme topic of revolution, I think its interesting how many American artist made paintings on the subject of the death of their leaders during the American revolution. I like just how much action they have to their paintings of this era. The colors are also very pleasant to the eyes, and they have so much meaning behind them. I think its interesting how you picked up on Trumbull's use of diagonal lines. Great work and awesome post!
ReplyDelete