American Art and Material Culture of the Gilded Age

3 units

This sophomore seminar explores American art and material culture from the aftermath of the Civil War to the dawn of the 20th century. Readings and classroom discussions consider the interplay between artworks and complex cultural and historical developments of the period, including the rise of international travel and trade, rapid industrialization and urbanization, mass consumerism, growing income inequality, immigration, the crisis of faith, the closing of the West, and the changing status of women and African Americans. Key artists to be considered include James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Eakins, Mary Cassatt, and Henry Ossawa Tanner. We will end the semester with a sustained consideration of the work of Winslow Homer, in which major concerns of the Gilded Age -- about truth and falsehood, the boundaries of citizenship, and the power of art -- converge.