Art in the American home

Magazine Antiques, Oct, 1995 by Allison Eckerdt Ledes

Before about 1800 only the wealthiest Americans had art of any sort on the walls of their houses, and the overwhelming favorite was portraits. Engravings and mezzotints of kings and queens, historical scenes, and allegorical subjects, primarily imported from England, were also popular before the Revolution. Such choices, however, did not go uncriticized. In 1828 James Kirke Paulding (1778-1860) promoted landscapes as an alternative: "We should like to see [landscapes] gracing the drawing rooms of the wealthy, instead of the trumpery of British naval fights, or coloured engravings, and above all in place of that vulgar, tasteless, and inelegant accumulation of gilded finery, which costs more than a dozen fine landscapes." And in 1829 the critic John Neal (1793-1876) maligned Americans' taste for portraits: "You can hardly open the door of a best-room anywhere, without surprising, or being surprised by, the picture of somebody, plastered to the wall."

As the century progressed views about interior decoration changed, and important rooms such as parlors took on a wholly different appearance. Landscapes - primarily painted in England and Europe - began to be collected, and mid-century art enthusiasts promoted purchasing any and all sorts of art because it was believed that such purchases would elevate the intellect and refresh the spirit. By this time a proliferation of advice manuals and ladies' periodicals began to take up the cause for art, informing the middle class. As the more affluent began to collect art in earnest, patronage of American artists became more commonplace. The auction market offered an astonishing number of European paintings, most often Dutch and German. Simultaneously, authors writing about interior decoration recommended the type of art best suited to each sort of room. Those who could not afford old master paintings, real or fake, could purchase engravings based on the originals.

During the Civil War era, art unions were responsible for producing and marketing thousands of inexpensive chromolithographs after oil paintings by American artists. During the 1870s and 1880s these copies were much maligned by tastemakers, who preferred less garish engravings or lithographs. The aesthetic movement, transplanted from England during the 1870s, brought new theories about hanging pictures. They were hung lower on the wall than before, and according to Charles Locke Eastlake (1836-1906), a leading English tastemaker, they were most successful when grouped by medium. With the craze for all things Japanese, fans, prints, and other ornaments joined pictures on the walls.

The colonial revival period ushered in a new reverence for ancestral and other portraits - a demand met by creative forgers, since by the late nineteenth century genuine portraits were in short supply. Interiors were considerably pared down to include far fewer objects. One might call this period the age of Corot, whose paintings were considered mandatory for a tasteful interior. Photographic reproductions of the works of the old masters were considered suitable for those who could not afford originals, and they are frequently shown on the walls in paintings of interiors. By the early twentieth century the canons of good taste had become more individualized and the guidelines for interior decoration were considerably more flexible, preparing the way for the eclectic interiors we enjoy today.

The catalogue of the exhibition contains essays by Ms. Carbone and Kevin L. Stayton. It has 64 pages, 28 color plates, and 14 illustrations and may be obtained for $14 plus $3 for postage and handling from the Katonah Museum of Art, Route 22 at Jay Street, Katonah, New York 10536.