Academic literature on the topic 'Portrait miniatures, American'

Abstract This article examines parallels between the exchange of miniature portraits in late eighteenth-century letters and the exchange of photographs and keepsakes in the twentieth-century correspondence of American poets Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell. Drawing on theories of the miniature in Susan Stewart’s work, alongside art-historical and literary-critical accounts of the practice of exchanging miniature portraits in letters, the article builds on arguments that portraits go hand-in-hand with the genre of letter writing. I argue that previous criticism of the Bishop-Lowell correspondence has not yet adequately explored their epistolary discussion and exchange of visual materials. As in the case of their eighteenth- and nineteenth-century predecessors, for Bishop and Lowell, letter writing frequently involved a literal and metaphorical exchange of portraits. The article places particular photographs in their original context alongside letters, demonstrating the symbiotic relationship between images and text and the key role played by the visual in letter writing. It provides a fresh reading of Bishop’s and Lowell’s linked poems, ‘The Armadillo’ and ‘Skunk Hour’, arguing that these poems are a means of portrait-painting in relation to the other. The poems are examined alongside descriptions of an antique miniature cameo, sent by Lowell to Bishop as a companion to his poem, which functions as an ambivalently gendered portrait of Bishop. Finally, the poets’ interlocking memoirs, ‘91 Revere Street’ and ‘Memories of Uncle Neddy’, are analysed to show their origin in letters, and their shared preoccupation with portraiture, scale and framing.

The article focuses on Johann Caspar Lavater (1741–1801), the Enlightenment-era thinker, pastor and writer, art collector and physiognomist, whose work and activities affected thinking from Zurich to America and Russia, including the Baltic countries. Of Lavater’s Estonian acquaintances, Johann Burchard VII, the Tallinn Town Council pharmacist, is the one that primarily emerges from the article. The famous Swiss maintained a correspondence with the latter for over ten years, and in 1792, gifted him a miniature portrait of himself (now in the Estonian History Museum).In addition to the miniature portrait after Johann Heinrich Lips (?), there were two graphic portraits of Lavater in Estonia that were associated with Georg Friedrich Schmoll (Tallinn City Museum, University of Tartu Library) as well as a masterful oil portrait by August Friedrich Olenhainz (Art Museum of Estonia’s Kadriorg Art Museum). The article examines all of these against the background of Lavater’s successful book of the day “Physiognomische Fragmente zur Beförderung der Menschenkenntnis und Menschenliebe” (“Physiognomic Fragments for Furthering the Knowledge and Love of Man”, 1775–1778) and in regard to Lavater’s discussions about people and the art of portraiture.An attempt is made thereby to see Enlightenment-era portrait art through the eyes of Enlightenment-era people – Lavater and his audience. While the author of the article is convinced of the impact of Lavater’s physiognomic research on the portraiture of the day (on the artists, clients, viewers) and also more indirectly on the history of art, she emphasis that, for Lavater, portrait art was primarily a tool for his physiognomic research and even if Lavater’s teachings lost their popularity after his death and were relegated to the periphery of science, Lavater should not be excluded from the history of art and culture in the Baltic countries.

AbstractGhanaian culture revolves around religion hence it is not surprising that Ghanaians have established sects upon resettlement in the United States of America. However, the sects have changed the social organization of the adherents. Instead of mainstream institutions, adherents depend on the spiritual leaders of their sect in dealing with immigration, unemployment, illness and other social problems. The study contends that there are relevant characteristics of some Ghanaians that make it likely that they would be drawn to the sects. Some adherents are drawn to the sects as a result of profound post-migration insecurities including the threat of deportation and limited entitlements such as the denial of employment and educational rights. To such adherents the sects are an important avenue for resolving their post-migration insecurities. Results of this research also suggest that some Ghanaians are drawn to the sects by religious aspirations including the unique theology of the sect. Overall, the sects are not just a transfer of an important segment of indigenous life in Ghana to the United States of America, they also represent a miniature portrait of the changing nature of religion in the United States.

Background. А history of the development of the human community is at the same time a history of the relationship between men and women, their role in society, in formation of mindset, development of science, technology and art. A woman’s path to the recognition of her merits is a struggle for equality and inclusion in all sectors of public life. Originated with particular urgency in the twentieth century, this set of problems gave impetus to the study of the female phenomenon in the sociocultural space. In this context, the disclosure of the direct contribution of talented women to art and their influence on its development has become of special relevance. The purpose of the article is to summarize segmental of information that highlights the contribution of women to the treasury of world art, their creative and inspiring power. Analytical, historical-biographical and comparative studying methods were applied to reveal the gender relationships in art and the role of woman in them as well as in the sociocultural space in general. The results from this study present a panorama of gifted women from the world of art and music who paved the way for future generations. Among them are: A. Gentileschi (1593–1653), who was the first woman admitted to The Florence Academy of Art; M. Vigee Le Brun (1755–1842), who painted portraits of the French aristocracy and later became a confidant of Marie-Antoinette; B. Morisot (1841–1895), who was accepted by the impressionists in their circle and repeatedly exhibited her works in the Paris Salon; F. Caccini (1587–1640), who went down in history as an Italian composer, teacher, harpsichordist, author of ballets and music for court theater performances; J. Kinkel (1810–1858) – the first female choral director in Germany, who published books about musical education, composed songs on poems of famous poets, as well as on her own texts; F. Mendelssohn (1805–1847) – German singer, pianist and composer, author of cantatas, vocal miniatures of organ preludes, piano pieces; R. Clark (1886–1979) – British viola player and composer who created trio, quartets, compositions for solo instruments, songs on poems of English poets; L. Boulanger (1893–1918) became the first woman to receive Grand Prix de Rome; R. Tsekhlin (1926–2007) – German harpsichordist, composer and teacher who successfully combined the composition of symphonies, concerts, choral and vocal opuses, operas, ballets, music for theatrical productions and cinema with active performing and teaching activities, and many others. The article emphasise the contribution of women-composers, writers, poetesses to the treasury of world literature and art. Among the composers in this row is S. Gubaidulina (1931), who has about 30 prizes and awards. She wrote music for 17 films and her works are being performed by famous musicians around the world. The glory of Ukrainian music is L. Dychko (1939) – the author of operas, oratorios, cantatas, symphonies, choral concertos, ballets, piano works, romances, film music. The broad famous are the French writers: S.-G. Colette (1873–1954), to which the films were devoted, the performances based on her novels are going all over the world, her lyrics are being studied in the literature departments. She was the President of the Goncourt Academy, Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, a square in the center of Paris is named after her. Also, creativity by her compatriot, L. de Vilmorin (1902–1969), on whose poems С. Arrieu, G. Auric, F. Poulenc wrote vocal miniatures, is beloved and recognized as in France as and widely abroad. The article denotes a circle of women who combined the position of a selfsufficient creator and a muse for their companion. M. Verevkina (1860–1938) – a Russian artist, a representative of expressionism in painting, not only helped shape the aesthetic views of her husband A. Yavlensky, contributing to his art education, but for a long time “left the stage” for to not compete with him and help him develop his talent fully. Furthermore, she managed to anticipate many of the discoveries as for the use of light that are associated with the names of H. Matisse, A. Derain and other French fauvist. F. Kahlo (1907–1954), a Mexican artist, was a strict critic and supporter for her husband D. Rivera, led his business, was frequently depicted in his frescoes. C. Schumann (1819–1896) was a committed promoter of R. Schumann’s creativity. She performed his music even when he was not yet recognized by public. She included his compositions in the repertoire of her students after the composer lost his ability to play due to the illness of the hands. She herself performed his works, making R. Schumann famous across Europe. In addition, Clara took care of the welfare of the family – the main source of finance was income from her concerts. The article indicates the growing interest of the twentieth century composers to the poems of female poets. Among them M. Debord-Valmore (1786–1859) – a French poetess, about whom S. Zweig, P. Verlaine and L. Aragon wrote their essays, and her poems were set to music by C. Franck, G. Bizet and R. Ahn; R. Auslender (1901–1988) is a German poetess, a native of Ukraine (Chernovtsy city), author of more than 20 collections, her lyrics were used by an American woman-composer E. Alexander to write “Three Songs” and by German composer G. Grosse-Schware who wrote four pieces for the choir; I. Bachmann (1926–1973) – the winner of three major Austrian awards, author of the libretto for the ballet “Idiot” and opera “The Prince of Hombur”. The composer H. W. Henze, in turn, created music for the play “Cicadas” by I. Bachmann. On this basis, we conclude that women not only successfully engaged in painting, wrote poems and novels, composed music, opened «locked doors», destroyed established stereotypes but were a powerful source of inspiration. Combining the roles of the creator and muse, they helped men reach the greatest heights. Toward the twentieth century, the role of the fair sex representatives in the world of art increased and strengthened significantly, which led Western European culture to a new round of its evolution.

Elite residents of Charleston, South Carolina, sought a unique means of memorializing their dead: gravestones embellished with bust-length depictions of the deceased. Commissioned from stone carvers in Boston, these portrait gravestones reimagined the small, ivory form of the portrait miniature at a public scale suitable for the cemetery. This chapter examines why Charlestonians patronized this type of memorial, tying the gravestones to residents’ horror at the savagery unleashed upon corpses by putrefaction and to their desire to preserve bodies’ former politeness. Considering portrait gravestones along with mourning rituals and coffin construction illuminates the stones’ role as protective containers that kept savagery at bay, an important function given Charleston’s high death rate and steamy climate. Recognizing the memorials’ similarity to boundary markers, such as those erected to mark the Mason Dixon line, illuminates how the gravestones demarcated a space of colonial control. By erecting stone portraits of civil persons, Charlestonians created a social network with incredible permanence.

This chapter marks a period in Arthur Szyk's life which was spent in increased travel, usually due to exhibitions of his work. However, the worldwide economic crisis that followed the 1929 crash drastically reduced the market for elaborate, deluxe illustrated books, and speculative printings like that of the Statute of Kalisz were no longer feasible; consequently, most of Szyk's projects, for some time to come, were self-motivated rather than commissioned. Yet he did undertake some of his major projects during this period. His interest in America, for instance, was realized on a grand scale in his next major project — an extended series of miniature paintings devoted to the history of the American Revolution. In addition, motivated by his belief in the goals of the organization, Szyk began an illuminated version of the Covenant of the League of Nations. Like the manuscript of the Statute of Kalisz, this work employs historical scenes and portraits as well as allegorical and symbolic motifs.