The Gilded Age in American Art

Discussion Starters: Cultural/Historical
Consider how this work relates to the Gilded Age.

Key Points:

• Artists and wealthy patrons collaborating as never before in America
• Finely decorated homes and country estates housing newly amassed art collections
• Artist of this era perfecting bronze casting

Edward Adams was a New Jersey banker who commissioned the life-size version of this sculpture for his home Rohallion. Rohallion is a Gaelic term for "little red hill" and named after an ancient estate in Scotland. The work was the centerpiece of a fountain.

What is a patron, and what influence does a patron have over an artist?

Why would a patron desire and commission a character from Greek mythology?

Edward Adams was so pleased with Pan of Rohallion that he commissioned many bronze reductions for wedding gifts and other occasions. Such reductions of Pan and many of his larger sculptures, became a source of income for MacMonnies that lasted well into the 1920s.

Why would these bronze reductions be so popular for Gilded Age Americans?