Painting Indians and Building Empires in North America, 1710-1840
Author(s): William Truettner (Author)
Publisher: University of California Press
Publication Date: 8 Oct. 2010
Edition: Illustrated
Language: English
Print length: 160 pages
ISBN-10: 0520266315
ISBN-13: 9780520266315
Book Description
The Europeans who first settled North America were endlessly intrigued by the indigenous people they found there; even before the colonials began to record the landscape, they drew and painted Indians. This study offers a new visual perspective on westward expansion through a survey of the major Indian images painted by Euro-American artists before and after the American Revolution. William H. Truettner’s accessible readings of paintings by artists such as Benjamin West, Gilbert Stuart, Charles Bird King, and George Catlin relate these images to social and political events of the time and tell us much about how North American tribes would fare as they fought to survive during the second half of the nineteenth century.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“[A] tight and carefully argued book.”– “Choice” (5/9/2011 12:00:00 AM)
“Truettner has produced a scholarly work of enduring value that should be in all academic and museum libraries.”– “Arlis/Na Reviews” (3/1/2011 12:00:00 AM)
From the Inside Flap
“An instant classic! Demonstrating how depictions of Native Americans as Noble Savages and Republican Indians furthered British and American imperial aims, William Truettner brilliantly illuminates a hitherto uncharted history.” Alan Wallach, author of Exhibiting Contradiction: Essays on the Art Museum in the United States
“In his thought-provoking study of 18th and early 19th century images of native American sitters, Truettner distinguishes between the mythical ‘noble savage’ and the 19th century ‘republican Indian’ with great success, raising issues about the purposes of the images, their commissions, their audiences, and their role in inter-cultural relations.” Ellen G. Miles, co-author of
Gilbert Stuart
From the Back Cover
“An instant classic! Demonstrating how depictions of Native Americans as Noble Savages and Republican Indians furthered British and American imperial aims, William Truettner brilliantly illuminates a hitherto uncharted history.”–Alan Wallach, author of Exhibiting Contradiction: Essays on the Art Museum in the United States
“In his thought-provoking study of 18th and early 19th century images of native American sitters, Truettner distinguishes between the mythical ‘noble savage’ and the 19th century ‘republican Indian’ with great success, raising issues about the purposes of the images, their commissions, their audiences, and their role in inter-cultural relations.”–Ellen G. Miles, co-author of
Gilbert Stuart
About the Author
William H. Truettner is Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
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