2023 American Art History Deep Dive Project, Part One

2023 American Art History Deep Dive Project, Part One

The intent of the 2023 American Art History Deep Dive Project, Part One is to make freely available to the public, via our TFAO website, additive citations of in-depth materials, with content focusing on representational art, published online by third parties.

This project's work product is subjective. Interested parties will primarily desire to educate the public about the work product of this study. Remuneration for the work involved will be a secondary motive.

Freelancers must be familiar with URL terminology, including: domain, folder, pathway, subdirectory, directory, slug, premalink, file name, page path. People not familiar with URL structure should not apply for this contract.

Exhibition content and citations regarding those exhibitions

We primarily seek citations from nonprofit art museum-based and cultural center-based exhibitions that focus on artistic content relating to expression of human virtuous behaviors such as kindness, industriousness, empathy, patriotism, gratitude, healing, humility, courage in battle, maternal and paternal love (see relevant quotes below). We are also amenable to exhibits featuring natural beauty through depictions of animals, birds, equine and equestrian Art: 18-19th Century, 1 9-20th Century, 20-21st Century, wildlife: 18-19th Century, 19-20th Century, 20-21st Century, botanical art, landscape: 18-19th Century, 19-20th Century, 20-21st Century, and Hudson River School art.

Citation content will include links to, and quotes sourced from, non profit art museum and cultural center online-published posts devoted to past exhibitions (see footnote 1) -- permanently archived for free viewing. Here are examples of our citations:

The Hudson River School: Landscape Paintings from the Albany Institute is an ongoing exhibition at the Albany Institute -- including artwork labels and 3D tour -- which says: "For the first time, nearly all ninety paintings from this important collection is on view. These landscapes, painted by artists like Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, Jasper Cropsey, Asher Durand, and numerous others, capture America's scenic grandeur in all its magnificence from rugged coastal scenery to imposing mountains and rivers." Accessed 10/22

Radiant Impressions is a 2021 exhibit at the UCI Institute and Museum of California Art which says: "From California Impressionism to the Light and Space movement, California artists have been celebrated for their skillful rendering of the perceptual effects of light. Focusing on painters working in California throughout the 20th century, Radiant Impressions considers the ways these artists have engaged with light not only for its optical qualities but also for its power to infuse ephemeral moments with meaning and emotion. Whether the warm golden tones of the California sun or the intense glow of electric bulbs, light in these paintings communicates a sense of anticipation, celebration, rest, and reflection." Accessed 12/21

The Historic Woodstock Art Colony: The Arthur A. Anderson Collection is a 2023 exhibit at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, SUNY New Paltz which says: "Long before the music festival in 1969 made Woodstock, New York, famous, it was home to what is considered America's first intentionally created, year-round arts colony -- founded in 1902 and still thriving more than 100 years later. Collecting the remarkable range of work produced there was Anderson's focus for three decades, resulting in the largest comprehensive assemblage of its type. The artists represented in it reflect the diversity of those who came to Woodstock, including Birge Harrison, Konrad Cramer, George Bellows, Eugene Speicher, Peggy Bacon, Rolph Scarlett and Yasuo Kuniyoshi, among many others." Accessed 3/23

The Bruton Sisters: Modernism in the Making is a 2023 exhibit at the UCI Jack and Shanaz Institute and Museum of California Art which says: "The important artistic innovations of Margaret, Esther, and Helen Bruton -- known collectively as the Bruton sisters -- contributed to the advancement of modern art in California. Active from the 1920s through the 1960s, the Brutons embraced a modernist aesthetic, which was characterized by a movement toward abstraction, experimentation with new techniques and materials, and the desire to meld art and life. Each sister pushed boundaries in her chosen medium, yet the Brutons also worked together on large-scale public art commissions. The Bruton Sisters: Modernism in the Making explores the Brutons' innovative use of materials, creative approach to design, and collaborative process. A selection of their rarely exhibited paintings, prints, mosaics, terrazzos, and archival materials -- paired with art by their Californian contemporaries -- demonstrates the Bruton sisters' impact. Featuring works from Langson IMCA's permanent collection and loans from museums and private collections, this exhibition is the culmination of new research into the lives and careers of these previously overlooked women artists. Accessed 3/23." Accessed 2/23

Ecco Sublimia: The Art of Christianity is a 2022 exhibit at the Castellani Art Museum which says: "Divided into five thematic sections, Ecce Sublima delves into depictions of sainthood: modern icons, the sacred feminine, such as the Madonna and Child, religious vestments, and the immersive art environment of Prophet Isaiah Robertson. From holy apparel to sculptures, stained glass to modern works on paper, this exhibition takes you on a tour of the sacred works of Niagara University and sites of worship around Western New York." Accessed 1/23

Sacred Art in the Age of Contact: Chumash and Latin American Traditions in Santa Barbara is a 2017 exhibit at the Art, Design & Architecture Museum (UC Santa Barbara) which says: "Sacred Art in the Age of Contact focuses on the relationship between art and religion in both Chumash and Spanish traditions in the early Mission period, highlighting themes of devotion, sacred space, language and materiality. The exhibition investigates the mutually transformative interaction among these traditions, and will draw implications for the ways in which one can understand the cultural dynamics of Santa Barbara County today." Accessed 11/17

Esentially duplicative citations within Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Wikipedia, and other online encyclopedia compilations are to be excluded. Also excluded are citations from commercial gallery exhibitions and commercial publishers. A hint on how to find duplicate citations on our site is to create a Google search entry starting with site:tfaoi.org followed by the title of an exhibition. For example, if you search on Google site:tfaoi.org Norman Rockwell because his name is in the exhibit title, you will retrieve links to 28 essays and articles about him published on our site. We don't need any more citations about him!

"Past Exhibition" posts published by museums and cultural centers on their websites will be the sole source (see footnote 2) of citations. Acceptable posts will include three or more of the following elements: exhibit description; images; recordings of curator interviews and lectures; artist and curator biographies; virtual tours; teacher guides; press releases; media coverage; wall texts; enhanced object labels; illustrated checklists; online brochures, catalogues and gallery guides in .pdf or flip book format. Elements of individual posts will not be considered as separate citations.

Multiple items are often included within one of the elements. For instance, within the images element there may be ten artwork images, two photos of artists and one logo. An exception to the three or more elements rule is a museum's exhibit entry containing a Matterport virtual tour image plus a text description of the exhibit. In that case two elements are sufficient. This is because Matterport images contain wall texts and object labels as the viewer virtually tours the exhibit galleries.

To provide better attribution, please preface quotes made by named individuals. For example:

Allen True Murals is a 2011 article from History Colorado. In the exhibit description, Alisah DiGiacomo says: "Awarded the job in 1927, True installed the lunette murals and one other mural in the building's two lobbies. Removed prior to the building's demolition in 1976, the murals, entitled The Producers, The Refiners, and The Marketers, depict activities in the petroleum industry." Accessed 7/23

In an exhibit post by a museum, if there are links to URLs outside of the museum's site, the materials accessed through those links won't be counted in the minimum elements criteria. Another way of putting it is we will only accept links directly from an exhibit URL (web address) as valid elements for the exhibit post. Links found elsewhere on a museum website or the internet that are not directly linked to through the exhibit URL are not acceptable.

If a URL is temporary such as in "https://www.Colorado.edu/cuartmuseum/exhibitions/view-upcoming/pioneers-women-artists-boulder-1898-1950," the citation is invalid. The section in the URL that says "/exhibitions/view-upcoming/" is the giveaway. If a URL contains characters that indicate "past," that's a good sign. Usually acceptable URLs contain "exhibitions" or "past exhibitions" or the exhibit name. The don't have "current" or "future" in them. Exhibit URLs must remain posted for a minimum of five years on the museum's website section for past exhibitions. Some museum websites have a "past exhibitions" pull down menu section that contains all past exhibitions, each listed in time order, using only one URL.This method can produce acceptable citations without exhibit-specific URLs if approved elements are included for the exhibit in question and past exhibits are posted for a minimum of five years.

Example of a multi-element citation for another topic a researcher emailed to us via johnphazeltine@gmail.com:

Tony Sarg: Genius at Play https://www.nrm.org/2022/11/tonysarg/ is a 2023 exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum https://www.nrm.org/ which says: "Tony Sarg: Genius at Play is the first comprehensive exhibition exploring the life, art, and adventures of Tony Sarg (1880-1942), the charismatic illustrator, animator, puppeteer, designer, entrepreneur, and showman who is celebrated as the father of modern puppetry in North America. His vast knowledge of puppet technology was instrumental in his design of the inaugural Thanksgiving Day parade balloon for Macy's Department Store in 1927, as well as subsequent parade balloons and automated displays for the company's festive holiday windows, which were imitated nationwide. The creator of a host of popular consumer goods, from toys and clothing to home décor, Sarg also envisioned fanciful illustrated maps and created mural designs for the Oasis Cafe in New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Accessed 9/23

The above citations were published within our Topics in American Art pages.

Quotes from posts will be brief*, with the most salient information about an exhibit selected from its explanatory text. The words for each citation follow a precise order: 1. name of the posted exhibit entry; 2. its permanent link URL; 3. the words "is a (year exhibit began) exhibit at the"; 4. followed by the name of the museum; 5. followed by the URL link to the museum home page; 6. followed by the words "which says:"** ; 7. followed by a direct quote from the description of the exhibit copied from the museum's exhibit description containing over 300 words and less than five sentences in length, usually two to three**; 8. followed by "Accessed (month and date of citation)." Citations will always have the above format.** Emails sent to johnphazeltine@gmail.com will be in plain text and not as .pdf, .doc, .txt or other formats.

* For exhibit descriptions, the quoted word count element is substantive if over 300 words. If there are over 300 descriptive words for the text element and they are accompanied by one or more exhibition-centric videos that are over three minutes long -- or there's a Matterport virtual tour including legible wall text and object label spot magnification -- the three or more elements rule won't apply because of the high level of substance provided with only two elements.

** An exception is when quoted descriptive text is by a person instead of the museum, please preface quotes made by the named individual. For example:

Allen True Murals https://www.historycolorado.org/story/stuff-history/2011/05/01/allen-true-murals is a 2011 article from History Colorado https://www.historycolorado.org/. In the exhibit description, Alisah DiGiacomo says: "Awarded the job in 1927, True installed the lunette murals and one other mural in the building's two lobbies. Removed prior to the building's demolition in 1976, the murals, entitled The Producers, The Refiners, and The Marketers, depict activities in the petroleum industry. "Accessed 7/23

We will pay for:

- citations we approve and publish online at our sole discretion. We are only interested in citations of original materials we believe will be freely available online for at least ten years, based on the track record of their publishers and the structure of their URL directories. This requirement is important because in our experience materials published online frequently perish over time. One citation for museum exhibit-related materials will be accepted. The estimated number of acceptable citations is unknown.

- citations that don't essentially duplicate previous citations.

- up to 40 approved citations at a price of $5.00 USD per citation. There will be four milestone payments of ten citations per milestone. The contractor will submit and have approved all ten citations before we escrow the funds for that milestone. If the contractor finds less than ten approved citations for a milestone, we will not escrow funds for that milestone.

- Each batch of 10 citations per milestone will be emailed to johnphazeltine@gmail.com. Each batch will be formatted only in plain text, excluding formats such as .pdf and .doc files.

- Before we enter an contract, each applicant for this contract will send two trial citations for our approval. If we approve those two citations, and subsequently enter into a contract, those two citations will be included towards the first milestone.

The time limit for this study will be four months from it's inception.

Footnotes:

1. "Past Exhibition" posts published by museums and cultural centers on their websites will be the sole source of citations. A post contains content for a sole exhibit identifiable by a discrete URL structure (web address) identifying the exhibit. Sole exhibit URLs always contain a final string of unique characters following the last forward slash in the URL. A Wikipedia definition of URL and its structure is found at <https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL>.

Examples of discrete URLs are:

https://www.albanyinstitute.org/exhibition/the-hudson-river-school-landscape-paintings-from-the-albany-institute. In this example the discrete URL for the exhibit has a final string of characters (the-hudson-river-school-landscape-paintings-from-the-albany-institute.) following /exhibition/.

https://imca.uci.edu/exhibition/radiant-impressions. In this example the discrete URL for the exhibit has the final string of characters (radiant-impressions) following /exhibition/.

https://www.newpaltz.edu/museum/exhibitions/woodstock%20art%20colony#d.en.151383. In this example the discrete URL for the exhibit has a final string of characters following /exhibitions/.

https://imca.uci.edu/exhibition/bruton-sisters/. In this example the discrete URL for the exhibit has a final string of characters following /exhibition/.

https://castellaniartmuseum.org/exhibitions/ecce-sublimia-the-art-of-christianity

In this example the discrete URL for the exhibit has a final string of characters following /exhibitions/.

https://www.museum.ucsb.edu/news/feature/506.

In this example the discrete URL for the exhibit has a final string of characters following /feature/.

As stated above, freelancers must be familiar with URL terminology, including: domain, folder, pathway, subdirectory, directory, slug, premalink, file name, page path. People not familiar with URL structure should not apply for this contract.

2. We will only accept links directly from an exhibit URL (web address) as valid elements for the exhibit post. Links found elsewhere on a museum website or the internet that are not directly linked to through the exhibit URL are not acceptable.

The following web page (post) for an exhibit has three elements, so it is ok. The elements are shown or linked to in the exhibit web page. The 13 other links listed below are not necessary and can't be a part of the citation. The freelancer did a lot of extra work for nothing!

Following is a exhibit post submitted by a freelancer that has 13 unacceptable links:

-In American Waters: The Sea in American Painting https://crystalbridges.org/calendar/in-american-waters-2/ was an exhibition co-curated by the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art https://crystalbridges.org/ in Bentonville, Arizona and Peabody Essex Museum https://www.pem.org/ in Salem, Massachusetts. The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art described the exhibition as follows: "For over 250 years, artists have been inspired to capture the beauty, violence, poetry, and transformative power of the sea in American life. Oceans play a key role in American society no matter where we live, and still today, the sea continues to inspire painters to capture its mystery and power. In American Waters is a new exhibition in which marine painting is revealed to be so much more than ship portraits. Be transported across time and water on the wave of a diverse range of modern and historical artists including Georgia O'Keeffe, Amy Sherald, Kay WalkingStick, Norman Rockwell, Hale Woodruff, Paul Cadmus, Thomas Hart Benton, Jacob Lawrence, Valerie Hegarty, Stuart Davis, and many more. Discover the sea as an expansive way to reflect on American culture and environment, learn how coastal and maritime symbols moved inland across the United States, and consider what it means to be "in American waters". Accessed 9/23.

In American Waters: The Sea in American Painting Travel Itinerary:

Peabody Essex Museum https://www.pem.org/ in Salem, Massachusetts from May 29, 2021 to October 3, 2021

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art https://crystalbridges.org/ Bentonville, Arizona from November 6, 2021 through January 31, 2022

Video In American Waters: Elio Villafranca in Conversation with Chief Curator Austen Barron Bailly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56t2yCQGoxY

Video Peabody Essex Museum Curator Daniel Finamore on American Waters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87SnlRHbMuI

Exhibition Catalogue: https://shop.pem.org/products/in-american-waters-the-sea-in-american-painting

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Maritime Glossary: https://crystalbridges.org/blog/ready-for-in-american-waters-heres-your-maritime-glossary/

Podcast Postcard from Crystal Bridges: https://soundcloud.com/peabody-essex-museum/pemcast-ep-23?utm_source=clipboard&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=https%253A%252F%252Fsoundcloud.com%252Fpeabody-essex-museum%252Fpemcast-ep-23

Podcast Sea Shanties and the Environment: https://soundcloud.com/peabody-essex-museum/pemcast-21-sea-shanties-and-the-environment?utm_source=clipboard&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=https%253A%252F%252Fsoundcloud.com%252Fpeabody-essex-museum%252Fpemcast-21-sea-shanties-and-the-environment

Press Release 'Return to the Sea: In American Waters Opens at Peabody Essex Museum': https://crystalbridges.org/blog/return-to-the-sea-in-american-waters-opens-at-peabody-essex-museum/

Press Release 'In American Waters Casts New Light on Our Relationship with the Sea':

https://www.pem.org/press-news/in-american-waters-casts-new-light-on-our-relationship-with-the-sea

Article 'In American Waters PEMcast: Our Connection to the Sea': https://crystalbridges.org/blog/in-american-waters-pemcast-our-connection-sea/

Article 'Diving into the sea's transformative power with In American Waters' by Dinah Cardin:

https://www.pem.org/blog/diving-into-the-seas-transformative-power-with-in-american-waters

Article 'A word with Curator Dan Finamore on summer exhibition In American Waters': https://www.pem.org/blog/a-word-with-curator-dan-finamore-on-in-american-waters

Exhibition on the Peabody Essex Museum's website: https://www.pem.org/exhibitions/in-american-waters

Postscript for this project...

Some examples of relevant artists acceessed from our Distinguished Artists catalog, a national registry of historic artists.

Abbott Handerson Thayer

Norman Rockwell

N. C. Wyeth

Howard Pyle

Grandma Moses

Howard Finster

Merle Locke

R.A. Miller

Edward Hicks

C. C. A. Christensen

Bill Traylor

Clementine Hunter

John Steuart Curry

Millard Sheets

Some relevant quotes found in the internet

"There is no greater purpose for art than to move you, to elevate your mood, to make you think, to remind you of places you have been or places you want to build. It does everything -- nourishes the soul and lifts the spirits of the people." - Adriana Trigiani

" The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude." - Friedrich Nietzsche

"We plant seeds that will flower as results in our lives, so best to remove the weeds of anger, avarice, envy, and doubt, that peace and abundance may manifest for all." - Dorothy Day

"Beauty will save the world." - Dostoevsky

"Beauty is no material thing. Beauty cannot be copied. Beauty is the sensation of pleasure on the mind of the seer. No thing is beautiful. But all things await the sensitive and imaginative mind that may be aroused to pleasurable emotion at sight of them. This is beauty." - Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

"Beauty is an intangible thing; can not be fixed on the surface, and the wear and tear of old age on the body cannot defeat it. Nor will a "pretty" face make it, for "pretty" faces are often dull and empty, and beauty is never dull and it fills all spaces." - Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

To my mind a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful and pretty. There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is, without creating still more of them. - Pierre-Auguste Renoir

So while our art cannot, as we wish it could, save us from wars, privation, envy, greed, old age, or death, it can revitalize us amidst it all." - Ray Bradbury, preface to Zen in the Art of Writing (1990).

Return to Content Enrichment Projects

Our catalogues:

American Representational Art links to dozens of topics in American Representational Art

Audio Online a catalogue of online streaming audio recordings

Collections of Historic American Art notable private collections

Distinguished Artists a national registry of historic artists

Geographic Tour of American Representational Art History a catalogue of articles and essays that describe the evolution of American art from the inception of the United States to WWII.

Illustrated Audio Online streaming online narrated slide shows

Articles and Essays Online substantive texts published outside of Resource Library

Videos Online a comprehensive catalogue of online full motion videos streamed free to viewers

Videos an authoritative guide to videos in VHS and DVD format

Books general reference books published on paper

Interactive media media in CD-ROM format

Magazines paper-published magazines and journals

About Resource Library

Resource Library is a free online publication of nonprofit Traditional Fine Arts Organization (TFAO). Since 1997, Resource Library and its predecessor Resource Library Magazine have cumulatively published online 1,300+ articles and essays written by hundreds of identified authors, thousands of other texts not attributable to named authors, plus 24,000+ images, all providing educational and informational content related to American representational art. Texts and related images are provided almost exclusively by nonprofit art museum, gallery and art center sources.

All published materials provide educational and informational content to students, scholars, teachers and others. Most published materials relate to exhibitions. Materials may include whole exhibition gallery guides, brochures or catalogues or texts from them, perviously published magazine or journal articles, wall panels and object labels, audio tour scripts, play scripts, interviews, blogs, checklists and news releases, plus related images.

What you won't find:

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(left: JP Hazeltine, founding editor, Resource Library)

Links to sources of information outside our website are provided only as referrals for your further consideration. Please use due diligence in judging the quality of information contained in these and all other websites. Information from linked sources may be inaccurate or out of date. We neither recommend or endorses these referenced organizations. Although we include links to other websites, we take no responsibility for the content or information contained on other sites, nor exert any editorial or other control over them. For more information on evaluating web pages see our General Resources section in Online Resources for Collectors and Students of Art History.

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