Visions of America

Ari Afsar: Welcome, to Visions of America, an audio tour inspired by and created in collaboration with Hamilton the musical. My name is Ari Afsar, and I play Eliza Schulyer in Hamilton.

Miguel Cervantes: and I’m Miguel Cervantes, I play Alexander Hamilton in the musical. Together, we’ll be your guides as we expand our ideas of what American art is and what it means to us today.

Ari Afsar: Just as Hamilton examines American history through the lens of contemporary issues and musical styles, this tour challenges our assumptions about artworks from the past. You’ll hear about the people, places, and stories behind some examples of early American art, and leave with a more complex and rich understanding of the collection.

Miguel Cervantes: You’ll also be hearing from curators Annelise Madsen and Elizabeth McGoey in the Department of American Art as we make our way through the tour. Join us, and discover America now through America then.

NARRATOR: Imagine yourself out on the open seas on a trading ship. You’re arriving into port in the Guangzhou province of China, also known as Canton, a place thousands of miles away from the bustling port cities of Boston or New York you just left. This is the scene depicted on this porcelain punch bowl made in about 1789.

ELIZABETH MCGOEY: Bowls like this sometimes called Hong bowls, and it’s named for the office, warehouse, and living spaces for the foreign merchants in Gaungzhou, China. And these large decorative bowls were popular souvenirs, luxury goods that were prized among traders and merchants. My name is Liz McGoey, I’m Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts at the Art Institute of Chicago.

NARRATOR: Come closer and check out the details on this bowl. You’ll see factories along the waterfront where ships are arriving and departing. You’ll also see flags designating particular countries.

ELIZABETH MCGOEY: It’s one of the earliest bowls to depict the American flag, and in fact the flag that’s flying predates the period in time when the American flag was officially raised there.

NARRATOR: These bowls were especially popular for western merchants, largely because of their material and how they were made. Porcelain was a luxury good, So if you’re an American traveling incredible distances, surviving typhoons and diseases, you can understand why you’d want something specific to the place you’ve visited, like an elaborate, rare bowl, to commemorate the occasion.

ELIZABETH MCGOEY: It also had to do with how amazing it was that these objects could make the trek that they did. So these were produced in Northern China, so they would travel over 600 miles across land just to reach Canton. And then they made the journey down around the southern tip of Africa to America, Britain, to Europe. So in many ways it was a celebration of that global trade and commerce.

NARRATOR: This was a huge step for United States. Sure, global trade between the East and West had been going on for centuries, but this was all brand new for the U.S., which had only just recently become a nation a decade or so earlier. Now think about your clothes, your shoes, the device you’re listening to this audio tour on, all of those things were made in places spread around the world. This global interdependence and trade, realities that have become obvious facts of life, are connected to this moment depicted on a souvenir from the late 18th century.

ANNELISE MADSEN: This is Elizabeth Grant Bankson Beatty, also known as Mrs. James Beatty, and her daughter Susan, painted by Joshua Johnson around 1803. I’m Annelise Madsen, The Gilda and Henry Bookbinder Assistant Curator of American Art at the Art Institute of Chicago.

NARRATOR: Joshua Johnson was one of the first African American artists of prominence. He lived in Baltimore, and was best known for his portraits of white middle class families in the area. This painting becomes even more interesting as we learn about the painter’s identity, for it is entirely possible that we would have known very little about Joshua Johnson had it not been for a preservationist in Baltimore.

ANNELISE MADSEN: There were some documents in a Baltimore courthouse that were planned to be thrown out in the 1950s during a the renovation of a building. And someone there had the wherewithal to make sure some of them were saved. And then this individual then,decades later, gave this set of documents to the Maryland historical society. And lo and behold among those documents were two documents relating to Joshua Johnson’s life.

NARRATOR: The first document recorded the sale of a young male slave by William Wheeler, Sr. to George Johnson in 1782. Joshua — the artist of this portrait — was that enslaved person. The second is a manumission document , likewise dated 1782, granting Joshua his freedom.

ANNELISE MADSEN: And in these documents Johnson admits that Joshua Johnson is his son.

NARRATOR: So just to be clear, Johnson fathered a child, Joshua, with one of Wheeler’s slaves, and then bought him, and when Joshua was of age set him free. Pretty unbelievable, right? Now, we had known a little about Joshua Johnson because he was a registered artist in the Baltimore city directories in the 1810s and we see his name as one of the free householders of color.

Annelise Madsen: But we never knew the story of how he arrived at that moment. And we only do know that story today through matching these documents, pegged for the dumpster, that end up helping us understand the historical circumstances, the details, surrounding this person, this artist, and this American story.

NARRATOR: It’s pretty cool, right? Do you you know what that is? This seemingly idyllic landscape of Niagara Falls was done by Thomas Cole. Cole was born in England, but emigrated to the United States in 1818.

ANNELISE MADSEN: Thomas Cole, today, is commonly thought of as the father of the Hudson River School, and the Hudson River School was the first great movement in landscape painting in the U.S.

NARRATOR: In 1829, Cole was getting ready to head off to England to seek additional training as an artist. But before he left, there was one thing he was determined to see first: Niagara Falls. Why? Well, by the 19th century, Niagara Falls was already an iconic American landscapes, nearly verging on mythical, and Cole did not want to throw away his shot to capture it.

So he travels to the Falls in upstate New York and sketches onsite, taking detailed notes, so that once he is in England he’d be able to recreate what he saw. But the landscape in front of you is not exactly what Cole experienced.

ANNELISE MADSEN: So there is, no doubt, a measure of agency of framing on Cole’s part. For example, if we look at this landscape we see the great colors of autumn in this scene. Well, Cole wasn’t there in autumn.

NARRATOR: And notice those two people down near the center of the painting.

ANNELISE MADSEN: He also places two Native American figures in the foreground, right atin the center. And that is, one, it marks the scale of the work, you see how small they are in comparison to the vastness of this natural scene, and it also marks the landscape as an American landscape.

NARRATOR: You may be thinking, “Okay he added some people and thought Fall was prettier, that’s no big deal, right?” Well, turns out that Cole left out a lot more than that.

ANNELISE MADSEN: He’s editing out quite a bit as it turns out. Because Niagara, already in 1830, is a prime tourist destination. So there are hotels right near by, there are factories that are harnessing the power of Niagara’s waters, and so you’re dealing with pollution already nearby. There are scenic outlooks for people to take in the great scene.

NARRATOR: Why would Cole edit all of this out of his painting? Well, just like we edit our photos to present an idealized the version of a particular moment, Cole was doing that with Niagara Falls. Cole was also concerned about the industrial expansion that he was witnessing in the U.S.

ANNELISE MADSEN: So in some ways he’s painting these romanticized views of natural wonders because he’s concerned that such views will at some point not be around or will vanish. Because if you look at a scene like this Cole is seeing the sublime power of nature. But someone else standing there may see a whole lot of timber and a market for the lumber industry. Or the power of the water rushing down the falls as something that could be harnessed for commercial value.

NARRATOR: When considering landscapes, like this one by Cole, it’s critical to think about how the artist is shaping what we see and what we don’t, and what their motivations behind those choices might be.

NARRATOR: We’re looking at a painting called The Irish Question, by the artist David Scott Evans, better known as De Scott Evans. The first thing you probably notice about this painting is the way the potatoes at center seem to almost come off the canvas.

ANNELISE MADSEN: This is an example of trompe l’oeil painting, which is French for “fools the eye”. In the 1880’s in particular there are a number of artists who are working in this mode where they would create a highly, ultra- realistic image on a shallow background. I’m Annelise Madsen, curator of American Art.

NARRATOR: In trompe l’oeil paintings it wasn’t uncommon to string up fruit or vegetables when doing a still life. A painter used simple objects that were readily available. Typically, the subject matter was less important than how the artist crafted his or her illusion, but this is no ordinary depiction of starch.

ANNELISE MADSEN: But when Evans in this case decides to use potatoes as the object and specifically names the work “The Irish Question” right on the canvas itself,. it is in no uncertain terms an invitation to think about these potatoes spuds politically and culturally.

NARRATOR: But what exactly is “The Irish Question?” What is Evans referring to?

ANNELISE MADSEN: There are a lot of questions in the nineteenth century: The woman question, the Irish question, the race question.

NARRATOR: And by question, we’re talking about a dilemma—or a perceived problem— concerning a particular group of people. Those in power asking or wrestling with such questions as “where do these people fit into our society?” or “what do we do if they want what we have?”

ANNELISE MADSEN: So the Irish Question is referring to the vast numbers of Irish people who come to the U.S in the 1840’s on the heels of the potato famine and then also in the 1870’s and 80s.

NARRATOR: Like many immigrants both past and present, Irish people were viewed with suspicion and concern because of their culture and religion; however, the cheap labor provided by the Irish was essential for American industry. Views of these newcomers were, in turn, conflicted and complex.

ANNELISE MADSEN: Many Irish folks were Catholic, and so there was this religious suspicion for the powers of the Pope and how this Catholic community would adapt and adjust and where their alliances would be in their new American homeland.

NARRATOR: Evans draws all this tension out through this provocative, subtly violent image of potatoes strung up by their necks. Though the perception of the Irish dramatically shifted during the 20th century, this painting reminds us of the continuing struggle over who is allowed to immigrate to the U.S., and how they are treated when they get here.

UNKNOWN: We are a nation of immigrants, we are one people, but a people wedded from many nations and races.

ELIZABETH MCGOEY: When you first look at the chair, I don’t think it’s the unique technology that you’re seeing because it is a very elaborate object. So, I think that the first thing the eye is drawn to is the decoration.

NARRATOR: This chair was built by the German American furniture maker, George Hunzinger, around 1869. And the curator is right, it’s easy to be enamored with this regal looking chair and its decorative elements and red upholstery. But there is ingenious design work here as well. See how the front legs are at a diagonal angle?

ELIZABETH MCGOEY: So rather than extending down perpendicular to the chair seat, which is how we usually encounter chairs and that’s the classic design, these legs run diagonally from the sides of seat to the floor. And he stated that he wanted to strengthen the chair by using these diagonal braces that would connect at certain points and help alleviate the strain that’s often borne on the back legs.

NARRATOR: Hunzinger was born in 1835 in a small German town on the Swiss border, but emigrated to the U.S. in 1855. He came from a long line of furniture makers back in Germany, and applied his skills in innovative ways in the United States. Over the course of his life time, Hunzinger would secure 20 patents for different furniture designs. But it wasn’t just his patents that made Hunzinger forward thinking for his time, it was also the range of his clientele.

ELIZABETH MCGOEY: He made furniture that appealed to customers across a range of means. You know, he would create works that might have a certain level of upholstery or that was very extensively carved and made out of more luxurious materials. However, that would have been at the high end of the price range that he would have offered. He also created designs that were more affordable, and I think that was truly another innovation of his was thinking about things be interchangeable and adaptable depending on someone’s means.

NARRATOR: Hunzinger’s journey is just one in a tapestry of American immigration stories; some ending just as happily, others not. He came to the United States as an immigrant looking for greater opportunity, like many at the time, and through ingenuity and hustle paved his own road to success. He reminds us both of the possibility of America, but simultaneously its limitations. Hunzinger was exceptional, but also happened to have the right background and skin color to achieve outstanding success. Like Hunzinger’s chair, the narrative of the American Dream is complex and not simply understood upon first glance.

NARRATOR: So this regal lady you’re standing in front of right now is none other than Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra.

ANNELISE MADSEN: Zenobia was a ruler in antiquity. She ruled Palmyra in Syria in the 3rd century A.D. And was a notable ruler in that she kind of expanded and accumulated a certain amount of power in this area that still fell under the Roman Empire but was not quite under the purview of the emperor day to day, and she kind of took advantage of that. I’m Annelise Madsen, curator of American Art.

NARRATOR: The sculptor, Harriet Hosmer, was also quite impressive. Hosmer was one of the leading sculptors in the 19th Century. She was originally based in New York, but moved to Rome to receive the best training available to sculptors at the time.

ANNELISE MADSEN: Hosmer is a noteworthy artist at this moment because of the obstacles that she overcame as a female artist to work in what was considered the particularly demanding field of sculpting in marble. And the opportunities just weren’t there, especially for a female artist in the U.S. And in Rome she could get the training that she wanted and pursue the kind of artistic career that she wanted to have.

NARRATOR: Sculpting was a male dominated field. Hosmer had to assert herself in order to establish her career as a respected artist, sometimes even battling accusations that she didn’t do her own sculpting. The boldness Hosmer showed in resisting such criticism parallels her choice of subjects, like Zenobia.

ANNELISE MADSEN: She was drawn to these strong female figures from history or mythology that, like herself, exemplified a certain sense of determination and power in the face of much resistance.

NARRATOR: The bust we have here at the Art Institute is actually based on a full scale sculpture also by Hosmer. In that sculpture, however, Zenobia was shown in chains. This is because she was ultimately defeated and captured by the Roman Emperor, Aurelian. This complicates the work, adding themes of captivity and bondage that would have resonated for viewers in the mid-19th century.

ANNELISE MADSEN: Hosmer is creating this sculpture on the eve of the Civil War and exhibiting it in the U.S. during the Civil War. And if you can imagine a female figure in chains that resonates with U.S audiences simply because slavery is the issue of the day. So even though we’re looking at a story of Antiquity, a Queen from Syria, it still strikes an American note because it’s about the current events of the day.