Brooklyn Museum: Luce Center for American Art

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American History

The celebration in art of important people and events is an ancient tradition that goes back to prehistoric times. The objects that mark our modern cult of the individual and our concepts of fame and notoriety grow out of this age-old tradition. Although we most often think of sophisticated painting and sculpture as the vehicles to celebrate famous people and history, more modest materials have been used as well, in such commemorative objects as factory-produced pressed-glass souvenirs and mechanically printed textile scarves and banners.

Since the American Revolution, painters and sculptors have played an important role in the invention of a visible history for the new nation. Portraits of national leaders and heroes such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Nathan Hale evoke heroic and ideal narratives in a single emblematic figure. The Emancipation Cane (1996.179), probably made by an African-American carver, depicts a continuous condensed account of the saga of Africans in America from capture to enslavement to freedom. Eastman Johnson’s A Ride for Liberty—The Fugitive Slaves (40.59 a-b) is based on an incident observed by the artist during the Civil War. James Hamilton’s Foundering (55.139) treated the conflict and the threat to the Union through the metaphor of impending shipwreck.

29 objects are included in this theme. They are arranged into 2 groups:
Notable Figures
Signal Events

Notable Figures
	18.152	Joel Hart Bust of Henry Clay, n.d. View object details...
	20.666	Charles Loring Elliott General John Charles Frémont, 1857 View object details...
	23.257	Augustus Saint-Gaudens Bust of Abraham Lincoln, 1922 View object details...
	32.142.63	Unknown Pitcher, ca. 1805 View object details...
	34.1178	Charles Willson Peale George Washington, 1776 View object details...
	40.177	American Plate (Theodore Roosevelt), 1904 View object details...
	40.266	American Bust of Admiral George Dewey, 1899 View object details...
	41.133	The Mosaic Tile Company Paperweight Tile (Abraham Lincoln), early 20th century View object details...
	43.25	Union Porcelain Works Century Vase, 1876 View object details...
	45.179	Gilbert Stuart George Washington, 1796 View object details...
	47.19.1	Unknown Vase, One of a Pair, John Adams, 1828-1830 View object details...
	47.19.2	Unknown Vase, One of a Pair, Thomas Jefferson, 1828-1830 View object details...
	54.206	John Rogers The Council of War, 1868 View object details...
	60.12.70	Unknown Pitcher, ca. 1790 View object details...
	64.82.240a-b	Enoch Wood and Sons Coffee Pot and Lid, ca. 1825-1835 View object details...
	77.48.4	James Gillinder & Sons Bust of Lincoln, ca. 1876 View object details...
	1989.180	Frederick Stymetz Lamb Presentation Window, "William Penn, Peace Movement, Pennsylvania", ca. 1905 View object details...
	1991.269	Thomas Ball Daniel Webster, 1853 View object details...
	1995.63	Frederick William MacMonnies Nathan Hale, 1890 View object details...
	1996.179	American Cane, 1865-1900 View object details...
	1999.54.1	George Augustus Baker Jr. Henry Ward Beecher, 1874 View object details...
Signal Events
	40.59a-b	Eastman Johnson A Ride for Liberty -- The Fugitive Slaves, ca. 1862 View object details...
	40.174	American Plate (William McKinley), 1901 View object details...
	40.190	American Goodwill Plane with Charles Lindberg, 1928 View object details...
	40.211	American Platter (Bunker Hill Monument), 1876 View object details...
	40.230	American Paperweight, Plymouth Rock, 1876 View object details...
	40.265a-b	Covered Dish, U.S. Battleship Maine, ca. 1898 View object details...
	55.139	James Hamilton Foundering, 1863 View object details...
	75.188	Robert Walter Weir Embarkation of the Pilgrims, 1857 View object details...

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