Choose eight paintings by American artists from the period 1700–1860. Suggested works include:
• John J. Audubon – Birds of America series
• Thomas Cole – Distant View of Niagara Falls; Home in the Woods
• Jonathan Singleton Copley – Paul Revere
• Robert Scott Duncanson – Uncle Tom and Little Eva
• Edward Hicks – The Peaceable Kingdom
• Emanuel Leutze – Washington Crossing the Delaware
• Charles Willson Peale – Joseph Brant; Exhuming the First American Mastodon
• Peter F. Rothermel – Patrick Henry Before the Virginia House of Burgesses
• Gilbert Stuart – George Washington
• Edward Savage – Congress Voting Independence
• John Trumbull – The Declaration of Independence; Surrender of Lord Cornwallis
• John Vanderlyn – Landing of Columbus
• Benjamin West – The Death of General Wolfe; Penn’s Treaty with the Indians; Benjamin
Franklin Drawing Lightning from the Sky
You are free to consider other artists and paintings, but remember, only American artists may
be included..
b) Analyze the paintings for the following:
i) Historical context
ii) The artist’s purpose and intended audience
iii) How the painting demonstrates the growth of an American identity