The Politics of Nature in 19th-Century American Art and Visual Culture
Instructor: Hélène Valance
Offered: Second semester
Course description: When Charles Wilson Peale founded the Philadelphia Museum in 1784, he meant to create an institution that would define American identity. The museum, which displayed fine arts objects together with American natural wonders such as geological samples, taxidermized birds, or the skeleton of the first American mastodon discovered in 1800, spectacularly illustrates the multiple connections between art and natural science that run through American culture since the early 19th century. The goal of this course is to consider the formation of the national artistic tradition Peale called for, specifically interrogating American art’s relationship to the concept of nature. What did “nature” mean to 19th-century American artists and their audiences, in the context of considerable scientific and technological developments? How did art contribute to define it? This seminar will analyze the political discourses at work in the enthusiastic embrace of nature by American artists, showing how the artistic representation of nature in the United States participated in the promotion of a national superiority, from the naturalist debates between Buffon and Jefferson to the Manifest Destiny ideology depicted by the Hudson River School artists. Comparisons with European art of the same period will help to understand the challenges faced by American artists, and to highlight American specificities, exploring the multiple institutional, commercial, political, racial and sexual issues underlying these representations of nature. Students will be asked to produce detailed analyses of artistic works that will show the latter’s position and role within their larger visual and cultural environment.
Teaching method: Lectures and class discussions.
Evaluation: class presentation (30%) and final paper (70%)
Course materials: A detailed syllabus including a list of compulsory readings will be provided on the first day of class.
Offered: Second semester
Course description: When Charles Wilson Peale founded the Philadelphia Museum in 1784, he meant to create an institution that would define American identity. The museum, which displayed fine arts objects together with American natural wonders such as geological samples, taxidermized birds, or the skeleton of the first American mastodon discovered in 1800, spectacularly illustrates the multiple connections between art and natural science that run through American culture since the early 19th century. The goal of this course is to consider the formation of the national artistic tradition Peale called for, specifically interrogating American art’s relationship to the concept of nature. What did “nature” mean to 19th-century American artists and their audiences, in the context of considerable scientific and technological developments? How did art contribute to define it? This seminar will analyze the political discourses at work in the enthusiastic embrace of nature by American artists, showing how the artistic representation of nature in the United States participated in the promotion of a national superiority, from the naturalist debates between Buffon and Jefferson to the Manifest Destiny ideology depicted by the Hudson River School artists. Comparisons with European art of the same period will help to understand the challenges faced by American artists, and to highlight American specificities, exploring the multiple institutional, commercial, political, racial and sexual issues underlying these representations of nature. Students will be asked to produce detailed analyses of artistic works that will show the latter’s position and role within their larger visual and cultural environment.
Teaching method: Lectures and class discussions.
Evaluation: class presentation (30%) and final paper (70%)
Course materials: A detailed syllabus including a list of compulsory readings will be provided on the first day of class.
