Colonial American portraiture : the economic, religious, social, cultural, philosophical, scientific, and aesthetic foundations

Colonial American portraiture : the economic, religious, social, cultural, philosophical, scientific, and aesthetic foundations

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1987.

xx, 459 p. : ill. ; 27 cm.

757.9 C898 1987

(OCoLC)13643567

Craven examines early American portraiture not just in terms of the genius of particular artists, but as a complex expression of society and the individual. Historians of American art have long identified the evolution of styles in early portraits; the author asks why those styles developed as they did, looking beyond the formal boundaries of traditional art history and studying the effect of religious, social, economic and political forces on art and the growth of arts patronage in early America. He identifies the Protestant perspective: the compatibility of Protestant spiritualism with intensely secular motivations. In his view, the rich variety of early portraits demonstrates how Americans moved away from the strict theology of Puritanism, becoming Materialists and determined followers of the Protestant ethic.|"First published 1986; reprinted 1987."|Includes bibliographical references (p. 437-450) and index.|88.46

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