The History of Western Painting
Colonial Americas.
North America.
Painting in the Dutch
and English colonies of North America reflected generally the
portrait styles of the mother countries, though with a note
of provinciality. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries
the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (New York) had painters whose
names today are forgotten. Their work lives on, however, and
is signified by names such as the Master of the De Peyster Boy.
Gustavus Hesselius, Swedish born, was painting in Maryland,
and Jeremiah Theüs, a Swiss, was at work in South Carolina.
Peter Pelham and John Smibert arrived from England and in the
second quarter of the 18th century were painting portraits in
Boston, Mass. These two self-taught itinerant artists were succeeded
by John Wollaston and Joseph Blackburn. Robert Feke, a native
American painter, realized his forms more solidly and with greater
originality than his predecessors had. Another native American,
John Singleton
Copley, worked in Boston
until 1774, when he went to live permanently in England, and
was responsible for the finest painting produced in the American
colonies. Benjamin
West, another important
native figure in the history of American painting, was born
in Pennsylvania but settled in London in 1763, where he became
the second president of the Royal Academy. Although domiciled
in London, he helped to mold the styles of two generations of
American painters.
Central and South America.
Baroque painting in Central
and South America is basically an extension of that of Spain
and Portugal, and even the best rarely rises to the general
standard of the European schools. Important paintings and sculptures
tended to be imported from Europe, and Zurbarán was particularly
active in producing works for export, while local productions
were more or less heavily influenced by the Indian traditions.
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