The Story of America – told in Portrait Painting
Thus in the beginning all in the World was America.
John Locke, 1689
from American Origins, 1600-1900 | Faces of Many Nations. At the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/origins/index.html
The online exhibition American Origins 1600-1900 at The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery tells the story of America through the faces of men and women who built it. Fourteen historical periods are presented to the viewer through an interactive exhibit that begins with Elizabeth I at the dawn of the 17th century and concludes in the 20th century with John Quincy Adams Ward.
The first historical period of this exhibition is titled ‘Faces of Many Nations.’ As I scrolled through its 20 works of art I saw the face of Elizabeth I (1533-1603), the English queen who sought to make a name for herself in the Americas. Elizabeth’s portrait artist is unidentified. He or she did a fine job of capturing the queen’s porcelain complexion and flaming hair. But just how were those gilded ruffled collar and wristlets achieved?
The portrait of Native American Pocahontas in full European dress suggests more questions then it answers. For instance, what was Pocahontas thinking as she posed? Was the occasion of this portrait painting sitting one of achievement and celebration, her right of passage into full American life? When the painter spoke to her, asking her to raise her chin perhaps or lower her left shoulder, did she understand English or was there a translator?
Phyllis Wheatley’s portrait (image, above) interested me the most out of this curated grouping. Wheatley was the first African American to publish a book and the first American woman to earn a living from her writing. Her story is far richer, though, then these two significant milestones. In his April 2008 article at Forerunner.com, Jay Rogers opens up Wheatley’s life story a bit more and I invite you to read it for yourself.
The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery is located in NW Washington DC, at Eighth and F Streets.
This Artist's Life 