University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Citizenship by Design: Art and Identity in the Early Republic

Sienkewicz, Julia A.

This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/72581

Description

Title
Citizenship by Design: Art and Identity in the Early Republic
Author(s)
Sienkewicz, Julia A.
Issue Date
2009
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Kruty, Paul S.,
Department of Study
Art and Design
Discipline
Art History
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • History, United States
  • Art History
  • Landscape Architecture
  • Architecture
Abstract
This dissertation offers a study of the ways in which some artists active in the United States between 1790 and 1850 theorized that their work could participate in the process of creating and shaping the nation's citizens. Through the detailed analysis of four artists---Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764-1820), Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827), Thomas Cole (1801-1848), and Horatio Greenough (1805-1852)---this project explores a process of citizenship by design theorized by these artists, a process which grew out of their belief that the physical environment could directly shape the character of its inhabitants. Buildings, landscapes, paintings, and sculptures were, for these artists, the means by which the moral and social precepts of democracy could be communicated most effectively to the public. Building on a long tradition of European aesthetic theory, these artists believed that through the process of perception such material objects could influence the mind and character of viewers. In short, I argue that by creating paintings, sculptures, landscapes and buildings, these artists believed that they were also crafting citizens.
Graduation Semester
2009
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/72581

Owning Collections

Graduate Dissertations and Theses at Illinois PRIMARY
Graduate Theses and Dissertations at Illinois
Dissertations and Theses - Art History