THOMAS HOVENDEN (1840-1895) AND LATE-NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICAN GENRE PAINTING.
Item
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Title
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THOMAS HOVENDEN (1840-1895) AND LATE-NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICAN GENRE PAINTING.
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Identifier
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AAI8312377
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identifier
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8312377
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Creator
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TERHUNE, ANNE GREGORY.
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Contributor
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William H. Gerdts
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Date
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1983
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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History, Modern | Fine Arts
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Abstract
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Thomas Hovenden, a late-nineteenth-century American genre painter, won critical and popular approval in his own time, but the sentimental and anecdotal qualities in his paintings have hindered serious consideration of his mastery and range as an artist. Due credit was not accorded Hovenden, even in the nineteenth century, for his marked ability to project his thematic message and to render human thought and feeling intelligibly and with sincerity.;In his ethical and moral sympathies Hovenden was representative of his own time. But singular for his day were Hovenden's realistic approach to the Breton peasant and his interpretation of Breton history and its significance in the 1870s; his commitment to humane portrayal of the American black; his genre-ized treatment of themes inspired by American history; his epic conception of domestic genre. In his genre pictures Hovenden penetrated beneath the surface of everyday life, presenting more than a mere recording of the common experience in America in his day. At a time filled with sociological and technological changes Hovenden expressed that mixture of nostalgia and hope which accompanied the passage of the old and the coming of the new in the lives of ordinary late-nineteeth-century Americans and focused on time-honored virtues and the enduring bonds of home and family.;In investigating the work and career of Thomas Hovenden, this study considers the artist's early training and development, his artistic education in Paris under Alexandre Cabanel, his experience at Pont-Aven, France, his successful translation of French training and experience into the American vernacular after his return to America, and inherent similarities in the themes of the Breton peasant, the American craftsman, and the American black. After also examining Hovenden's interpretations of American history and his innovations in domestic genre, this study concludes by addressing the artistic crisis that the triumph of Impressionism in America in the 1890s posed for Hovenden and the compromise he sought.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy Restricted.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Art History