From the Puritans to contemporary philistines who scoff that “my 12 year old”: could paint that Pollock, artists have historically had a fraught relationship with American society. In the colonial and early national periods, there was little material and institutional support for the kind of art patronage common in pre-modern Europe. In the bustling, go ahead materialism of the 19th century American artists struggled to make a place for themselves. (The rich much preferred buying European masters as status signifiers.) And in a society largely based on pragmatic empiricism it was similarly difficult to find a receptive audience for abstraction. The list of artists who were simply unable to sell any of their work is long, stretching from Raphaelle Peale to Marsden Hartley.

Yet despite, or perhaps because, of their marginality, artists, provided a documentary record of American society evolving over time, one that interpreted (and even criticized) the main currents of the nation’s history. American art created its own vocabulary and grammar as each successive generation of artists assimilated the formalistic demands of art making against the task of depicting the subject. Even within the conventionalities of traditional art, portraits and landscapes, and a society oriented toward common sense empiricism and realism there was the potential for artists to embody other meanings within the surface appearance of canvas. Those meanings could resonate to touch on societal issues from gender and sex to race and class even in the most seemingly conventional of artwork. One thinks, for instance, of how John Singer Sergeant originally portrayed “Madame X”’s dress with a spaghetti strap fallen from her right shoulder. That outraged opinion at this sexual provocation required him to repaint the strap in its proper place is also part of the story.

This “course” is a necessarily brief overview of 250 years of American art. The format of six sections fortunately divides neatly into the main periods of American history so that artists and their art can be considered in counterpoint to the rise, consolidation, and expansion of the United States into a continental nation and then a world power.

COURSE FORMAT
This course is an interactive in-person seminar course in Washington D.C.. This course will meet once a week for 6 classes and will be held in-person at the following location: Williams & Connolly Conference Room- 680 Maine Ave. S.W., Washington, DC 20024.
There will be a bonus 7th session meeting at the National Gallery for a walk and talk about many of the works we’ve discussed in this course, followed by an informal lunch/coffee in the gallery café.

No readings required. There are no papers or grades. This course does not offer any credits or certificates. This course is intended for learning for the love of learning.

COURSE MATERIALS

There are no required readings for this course.
A suggested reading list will be supplied to registrants. Registrants will receive access to the course website about two weeks before the course starts.

COURSE CANCELLATION POLICY
Registrants can cancel and receive a full refund up to May 19. After May 19, there will be no refunds issued.
Yale Alumni College courses are subject to schedule changes as well as cancellations. If Yale Alumni College must cancel any course prior to its start due to low enrollment, you will be notified of this by the cancellation date. Upon cancellation of a course, registrants may transfer their registration to another available course or have the registration fee fully refunded.

In the event of a disruption to the original course schedule, including but not limited to; Professor absence, hazardous weather conditions, or local travel restrictions, Yale Alumni College will do its best to reschedule the missed class for the week immediately following the original end date at the same course time and day.

IMAGES: `Orange and Book` by Raphaelle Peale, c. 1817, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Marsden Hartley - Painting No. 3 - ASC.2012.61 - Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Marsden Hartley, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Charles Dana Gibson: English: A Drawing-room Tea (cropped and feathered), CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons