American Painting 1770—1930 EDITED BY WILLIAM AYRES PICTURING HISTORY American Painting 1770—1930 EDITED BY WILLIAM AYRES Chief Contributor: Barbara J. Mitnick Foreword by Michael Kammen Essays by Ann Uhry Abrams, Kenneth Ames, Matthew Baigell, Bruce W. Chambers, Wendy Greenhouse, Gail E. Husch, Barbara J. Mitnick, Barry Schwartz, Mark Thistlethwaite, Ron Tyler n association with 17raunces Tavern Museum, New York This book accompanies the exhibition Picturing History: American Painting, 1770-1930, William Ayres, Project Director, Barbara J. Mitnick, Curator, organized by Fraunces Tavern Museum, New York City, with a grant from the IBM Corporation and additional funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Exhibition venues: IBM Gallery of Science and Art, New York City, September 28 to November 27, 1993; The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., January 29 to ' April 2, 1994; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, May 1 to July 10, 1994; Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida, August 6 to November 13, 1994. Fraunces Tavern Museum is owned and operated by, and FRAUNCES TAVERN® is a registered service mark of, Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York, Inc.First published in the United States of America in 1993 by Rizzoli International International Publications, Inc. 300 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10010 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission in writing from Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. Copyright © 1993 Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., and Fraunces Tavern Museum All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Picturing history : American painting, 1770-1930 / edited by William S. Ayres ; foreword by Michael Kammen ; introduction by William S. Ayres, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8478-1745-8 1. Painting, American. 2. History in art. I. Ayres, William S. ND1441.P53 1993 758'. 9973'0973—dc20 93-10437 CIP Developmental Editor: Kathryn Grover Designed by Abigail Sturges Editor: Charles Miers Compositor: Michael Bertrand Proofreader: Mary Christian Printed and bound in Italy Front jacket: Emanuel Leutze and Eastman Johnson, Washington Crossing the Delaware, plate 124. Back jacket: Thomas Hart Benton, New York History, plate 132. Page 1: Frederic Church, Hooker and Company Journeying Through the Wilderness from Plymouth to Hartford, in 1636. 1846. 40 'A x 60 (102.3 x 152.9 cm.). Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut. Pages 2-3: Robert Weir, Landing of Henry Hudson, detail of plate 39. Pages 4-5: Dennis Malone Carter, Molly Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth, detail of plate 13- Contents 11 Foreword MICHAEL KAMMEN 17 Preface WILLIAM AYRES 29 The History of History Painting BARBARA J. MITNICK 45 The Landing of the Fathers: Representing the National Past, 1770-1860 WENDY GREENHOUSE 65 National Paintings and American Character: Historical Murals in the Capitol Rotunda ANN UHRY ABRAMS 81 “Freedom’s Holy Cause”: History, Religious, and Genre Painting in America, 1840-1860 GAIL E. HUSCH 101 Historic Reportage and Artistic License: Prints and Paintings of the Mexican War RON TYLER 117 Painting the Civil War as History, 1861-1910 BRUCE W. CHAMBERS 135 Picturing Lincoln BARRY SCHWARTZ 157 Paintings for the People: American Popular History Painting, 1875-1930 BARBARA J. MITNICK 177 A Fall from Grace: The Critical Reception of History Painting, 1875-1925 MARK THISTLETHWAITE 201 On the Margins of American History MATTHEW BAIGELL 221 Afterword: History Pictures Past, Present, and Future KENNETH L. AMES 232 Notes 247 Bibliography 251 Index