The Gilded Age in American Art

Discussion Starters: Cultural/Historical

Consider how this work relates to the Gilded Age.

Key Points:

• Idealization of and fascination with women
• Artists and wealthy patrons collaborating as never before in U.S.
• Influence of European art and culture
• Impact of new scientific and religious theories

For Dewing, the female represented an ideal form of beauty. He believed that "women provide meditation between nature and civilization because of their spiritual and natural associations" (Hobbs). He called his images "decoration" because of the lack of narration and minimal detail. Dewing often depicted woman as refined and cultured, lounging around with seemingly nothing to do. But many women of the 1880s were beginning to take an active role in public life. They were independent, self-supporting, and active in suffrage. In 1922, critic Catherine Beach Ely wrote about the contradiction between the artist's images of women and the realities of their lifestyle,"They [Dewing's women] are not the restless women of today-aggressive efficiency is far from them; they can do nothing and do it beautifully....[Dewing's] mood of quiet contemplation almost amounts to an ironic comment on the strenuousness of the typical modern woman."*

Why would have Dewing's depiction of women been criticized?
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919) was Dewing's most influential patron. Freer was a rich Detroit businessman with a true love of art. He was the epitome of the Gilded Age man: cultured, refined, and newly wealthy. He met Dewing in 1890 and the two soon became friends. Both artist and patron considered themselves "defenders of the aesthetic faith against the increasingly course taste of the masses" (Hobbs, pg. 19.)

How does Dewing's work reflect that elitist statement?
The influence of European art is evident in the work of Dewing. Dewing was especially influenced by the 17th-Century Dutch artist Jan Vermeer and the 19th Century English artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Compare Vermeer's Woman with a Pearl Necklace to Dewing's The Necklace. How are they similar? How are they different?

Compare Rossetti's Veronica Veronese to Dewing's Lady with a Lute. How are they similar? How are they different?

Dewing and the group of artists and writers from the Cornish Art Colony were influenced by the new social theories of Herbert Spencer. Spencer believed that "human society inevitably developed toward higher and more spiritual forms" and that "environment, not natural selection, shaped character" (Pyne). It was the "superior people and races who would inevitably triumph in the continual evolution and progress of society" (Hobbs). Therefore, the refined, elegant forms found in Dewing's work were considered at the top of the scale. Why would Dewing's work appeal to an audience influenced by Spencer's writings?

*Catherine Beach Ely, "Thomas W. Dewing," Art in America 10 (1922), 225-26.