10-A Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial, 1884–1897

10-A Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial, 1884–1897
Look closely at the figures and what they look like, what they carry.

Discuss how artists can create rhythm in works of visual art. How did Saint-Gaudens create a sense of rhythm in this relief? He repeated the slant of leg and body lines and shapes at regular intervals across the sculpture. (Even the horse’s legs match the slant of the marching soldiers’ legs.) The repeated rifles create a steady rhythm in the top half of the sculpture. Only Shaw’s upright form and his horse’s neck interrupt the steady march across the sculpture.

How did Saint-Gaudens create a sense of depth in this sculpture? How do you know that some soldiers are closer to viewers than others? Soldiers who are closer to us stand out farther from the background; they are in greater relief. The soldiers at the back are in low relief. The closer forms also overlap the more distant ones.

Which figure is closest to the viewer (in highest relief)? Robert Shaw is.

Who is in command? The man on the horse, Colonel Shaw, is. How do you know? As the only mounted figure, he is above the other soldiers; he carries a sword, and his jacket has the fancy cuffs of an officer’s uniform. Also, the title tells us that this honors Robert Shaw.

This was commissioned to honor and remember Robert Shaw, but who else does it commemorate? It honors the foot soldiers of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.
Why was this monument was made of bronze rather than marble or wood. Bronze lasts longer outside; it reflects light and is dark and solemn. It can be worked in minute detail, and thin forms like rifles and reins do not break easily.

What does the winged figure in the sky hold? She holds poppies and an olive branch.

What do you think this figure in the sky represents? Why? She may represent an angel. The poppies usually symbolize death and remembrance, and the olive branch, peace and victory. (Artificial poppies are worn on Veterans Day to remember America’s war veterans.)

9-A Winslow Homer, The Veteran in a New Field, 1865

9-A Winslow Homer, The Veteran in a New Field, 1865

Title: describe.

Describe how Homer divided the scene in this painting. He divided it into three strips of color with a band of sky, a wider band of standing wheat, and another band of cut wheat in the foreground.

Of what war was this man a veteran? He was a veteran of the Civil War. How does Homer show us this? His military uniform jacket and canteen lie in the lower right corner.

What might laying aside his uniform represent? He has set aside soldiering and returned to regular life.

Why is this a new field for him? It may be literally a new field of grain, but it is also a new field of work for him after fighting for years.

If this man had been in a grain field the previous year, what would he probably have been doing? Probably fighting a battle, since a number of Civil War battles were fought in grain fields.

What subjects had Winslow Homer been sketching for the past few years? He had been sketching Civil War soldiers.

What does a figure carrying a scythe usually symbolize? He symbolizes the grim reaper or death.

Whose deaths might Homer be alluding to? He is alluding to dead soldiers and/or President Lincoln, who had been assassinated earlier that year. Previously, the veteran cut down soldiers in a field; now he cuts wheat.

What might a bountiful field of wheat represent? Hope, bounty, and the renewal of life.

Because a seemingly dead seed buried in the ground rises as a new plant, grain can be a symbol of rebirth or new beginnings. What might this suggest about the country after the Civil War? It could suggest that the country will recover and flourish.

Other works...

Croquet Scene, 1866 Oil on canvas; 15 7/8 x 26 1/8 in. (40.3 x 66.2 cm)
Croquet, a fad in the United States by the mid-1860s, was appreciated as a healthful outdoor activity that invited men and women to compete on equal terms as well as to visit and flirt with one another. Here, a man observes the expected courtesies by assisting his female companions in the game. He is sandwiched between two of them, who wear stylish dresses brightly colored in a patriotic palette and tower over him. Homer's apparently pleasant afternoon of play also implies the uncertain terrain of relationships between American men and women. At this time, women were evaluating the choice between their traditional roles as wives and mothers and their new opportunities for education and employment that emerged following the loss of so many men in the Civil War, growing urbanization and industrialization, and the burgeoning women's movement.

Snap the Whip, 1872 Oil on canvas; 12 x 20 in. (30.5 x 50.8 cm)
Children embodied innocence and the promise of America's future and were depicted by many artists and writers during the 1870s. Here, Homer reminisces about rural simplicity and reflects on the challenges of the complex post–Civil War world. Released from the confines of a one-room schoolhouse, exuberant boys engage in a spirited game. As the population shifted to cities and the little red schoolhouse faded from memory, this image would have evoked nostalgia for the nation's agrarian past. The boys' bare feet signal childhood's freedom, but their suspenders are associated with manhood's responsibilities. Their game, which requires teamwork, strength, and calculation, may allude to the reunited nation. Observed from right to left, Homer's boys hang on to one another, strain to stay connected, run in perfect harmony, and fall away, enacting all the possible scenarios for men after the Civil War.

Pitching Quoits, 1865 Oil on canvas; 26 3/4 x 53 3/4 in. (68 x 136.5 cm)
While photographers documented the Civil War's carnage and some artists depicted its battles, Homer primarily chronicled camp life. Having worked in oil for barely two years, he painted Pitching Quoits, his most ambitious war scene, soon after returning from a difficult visit to Virginia. Surrounding an expanse of hard-packed campground are groups of soldiers who were known as courageous special fighters with New York City ties. These men had ordered picturesque red uniforms designed after those worn by the Zouaves, Berber tribesmen who had fought with the French in the Crimean War ten years earlier. With downward or disengaged stares, Homer's Zouaves seem psychologically isolated from one another and detached from any apparent narrative, which makes the painting's true subject the boredom of time spent between battles. Avoiding overt references to combat or lost lives, Homer may also have provided to those at home a comforting connection to their loved ones' daily experiences.

Here is a link to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's website, which has an incredible exhibit online right now called "American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765 - 1915". You'll find a lot of paintings by Winslow Homer, John Singleton Copely (2a), George Caleb Bingham (7b), as well as Thomas Eakins, John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, and Mary Cassatt, who we'll study soon.

10-B Various Artists, Quilts of the 19th and 20th Centuries

10-B Various Artists, Quilts of the 19th and 20th Centuries

Why are quilt patterns like Greenlee’s called crazy quilts? It’s an informal pattern with shapes that go in random directions.

Find pieces of a printed fabric repeated several times in Greenlee’s quilt. A brown and pink floral is repeated in the second row, third square, and in the third row, second and third squares. A red, white,and black plaid is in the third row, second and third squares.

Compare the patterns of Greenlee’s Crazy Quilt with that of McCord’s Grandmother’s Fan Quilt. What is the main difference between these two quilts? Greenlee’s is made primarily of parallel lines like ladders and McCord’s has wedge shapes forming circles.

How did both quilters create unity in their quilt designs? They repeated colors, shapes, and patterns, and arranged their design into an ordered grid.

Which quilts on this poster took the most advance planning and why. It was probably the Amish quilts because of their geometric regularity.

Which ones took the longest time to sew? The ones made from many small pieces of fabric and with the finest stitches took the longest to construct.

Why did women make quilts? The main reason was to keep their families warm, but quilts also added decoration and color to homes. Many women also enjoyed designing and sewing quilts.

Why did quilters often sew small bits of fabric together rather than using one large piece of material? By using fabric scraps and pieces of discarded clothing, they could create inexpensive bed covers.

How do quilts record a family’s history? Quilt pieces made from old clothes could remind the family of the people who wore them and special occasions when they wore them.

How is Greenlee’s quilt is similar to kente cloth designs? (left) They both have contrasting parallel bands of color that resemble ladders.

What nineteenth-century developments made it easier for American women to make quilts? The invention of the cotton gin and power loom and opening of New England textile factories made commercially woven and printed fabric available and affordable. Catalogs and magazines printed quilt patterns. The introduction of sewing machines made sewing quicker.

None of these pieces were intended to be revered as works of art by their creators. Why are they considered to be art now? Many would state that these quilts are not art, but rather, craft (because of their functionality, because they are not a "traditional" art form like painting and sculpting). What about the modern-day quilts we looked at that are meant to be seen as art pieces and not used bed coverings? Many of these newer quilts were made primarily with the use of machines, with very little work done by hand. Or, they challenge our ideas of what a quilt should look like. Does this change how we respond to them?

Questions like these lead us, ultimately, to the never-ending and lively discussion of... What is Art? :)

Below:
A Hot Day in Lancaster
Water Ballet #5
Techno Jam
Quilt by Linda Gray