Art and the Patron Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Art and the Patron - Essay Example In the dying embers of this world, artists began to come into fashion, creating a refined position within culture. Artists have been subject to the morality, philosophy, and social construction of their time and American artists have had to navigate these frameworks in order to find their place within the cultural context. Art has had to balance a double sided card for most of its existence, the expression of the artist tempered by the desires of the patron or authority over the artist to dictate the theme and representations that the artist uses. It is a rare moment in time when an artist has true control over those things that he or she wishes to depict within his or her art. The hidden elements that are not always obvious to the patron or the controlling party have been one of the joys that artists have been able to use to express their individual point of view within a dictated framework. As time has progressed, the types of hold that patrons have had over the theme and content o f the work has changed, but artists are often subjected to control in order to appease those who are willing to support their work. The privilege of total freedom is rare and has been denied to artists even within the expectations placed upon American art. The nature of artistic freedom has been subjected to morality, flattery, and the need to represent themes that suited the national rhetorical discourse. The economic needs of the individual to survive have been in tension with the need to express artistic vision throughout history. In New England in the 17th century, the trend of portraiture followed from England as a form of artistic employment, artists needing the patronage of those who desired their portraits to be done by them in order to create a form of wage for their work. Craven (1998) discusses the idea that the concept of the portrait as a commercial product was dependent upon a sufficient number of elite in the region who were willing to spend money on such a transactio n. He goes on to discuss how very talented artists came to American with the realization that their former training and income resource was likely to not be profitable enough in the new land in order to make a living so they were forced to take on other similar work such as painting signs or the interiors of houses. Because of the influx of immigrants that were of Dutch origins, there is evidence of the influences of Dutch portraiture aesthetics in many of the works from the 17th century American artists. Therefore, there is a long history of competent and extensive studies on Dutch art from American scholars (Liedtke, 2000). The influences of Dutch portraiture can be seen in the beginnings of a developing style in early American-European settlements as in evidence by the Freake portraitures. According to Roark (2003) the Freake portraits, done by an unknown artist, is the largest existing collection of artworks from this region and from this time in American history. The paintings share similar characteristics that suggest training in the art of portraiture as well as a defined perspective on how to represent the individual. Craven (1998) discusses the nature of the paintings in reference to the way in which they make social statements about the subjects of the paintings, the hair of the patriarch of the family, John Freake wore his hair naturally and shoulder

Power over Peoples Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Power over Peoples - Essay Example Western Imperialism or ‘the expansion of Europe’ manifested itself in two phases: the Old Empires of the 16th century, and the New Imperialism of the mid 19th centuries. Technology counts as one of the major contributing factors to the success of the western imperialism mostly in the New Imperialism as it advantaged the Europeans and their associates, making them succeeded in controlling many states of the globe. They could travel over long seas in steamships and boats, travel and transport widely by use of railways, conquer more states because they had better armor, and lastly their development in medicine saw them withstand such in the different cultures they embarked on. Technology here refers to the extensive ability that humans can acquire from the use of environmental energy and materials in doing what the body cannot do on its own. When technology changes for the better, or advances, it is referred to as superior technology, superior in that it gives one powers mo re than nature, such as using a machine to travel farther, and faster. Technology favored the Western Imperialism as they had two main sources of innovation that is culture and the competitive nature of the West. Culture enabled them to rule over nature through scientific experiments and research. The competitiveness of the western states made each state to strive for gain of advantage over the other in a bid to control more of the outside world than other states. Historians have long tried to define some occurrence in the Western Imperialism without much success. The myth in it is that the New Imperialism spread so fast in less time, and was more successful than the Old Imperialism. Did the use of fast growing technology facilitate the success of the New Imperialism in a shorter time than did the Old Empires? In addition, did the impact of imperialism force the affected to react by innovating means of survival? From Chapter 1: Discovery and conquering of the Seas Headrick (2010) ex plains the mastering of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans, revealing that the move was not for exploration. Rather, it was due to the quest of religious, commercial, and military dominance over other cultures. He uses Portugal to elaborate the onset of nautical innovations that saw it rise to form an empire of the Indian Ocean. At first, it was so unlikely for Portugal to raise to such heights, owing to its approximate population of a million people, most of who were fishermen and farmers, and its lack of resources that made it a poor state. In addition, it appeared unstable because of its ever-in-war status with North African Muslims and the Castile (Headrick, 2010). However, they defied these odds and went on to acquire their empire status, a first in Europe, powered by some factors such as the urge of Christians to fight Muslims even after leaving Portugal that made them find means of pursuing them. Then there was the craving for gold and spices, both of which led to them inventing navigation and ships. To add to their success was Henry the Navigator, son of King John I, an explorer and soldier who trained people in map-making and navigation. He is responsible for the success of the Portuguese in sailing to the African West Coast to defeat the Muslims, spread Christianity, and establish new trade routes (Headrick, 2010). The English and Dutch later joined in exploring the Asian coasts and offered stiff