From the Gilded Age to World War II
videos + essays
Over the next two years, Seeing America will grow to include 100 videos, 18 essays, quizzes, discussion questions and lesson plans.
Childe Hassam, Allies Day, May 1917
Hassam's Impressionist painting provides a visual form of optimism on the very brink of America’s entry into the First World War.
Rufino Tamayo, Perro aullando a la luna (Dog Howling at the Moon)
Painted during WWII, Tamayo's howling dog leaves the viewer with a deep sense of dread.
Manuel Cuyàs Agulló, El desembarque de los americanos en Ponce, 27 de julio de 1898
In the distance, U.S. naval ships approach what seems to be an everyday scene of Ponce.
Francisco Oller y Cestero, President William McKinley
In this remarkable portrait, Oller marks the moment that control of Puerto Rico was transferred from Spain to the United States.
Jonas Lie, The Conquerors (Culebra Cut, Panama Canal)
Lie portrays man’s dominance over nature in his painting of the construction of the Panama Canal.
Armando García Menocal, Campesino y soldado español (Peasant and Spanish soldier)
Following the Cuban War of Independence, Menocal seeks to create a distinct Cuban iconography.
Winslow Homer, Searchlight on Harbor Entrance, Santiago de Cuba
A bright new technology and a devastating naval battle during Spanish American War.
Florine Stettheimer, Portrait of Alfred Stieglitz
This portrait gives us a glimpse into the creative circle of Alfred Stieglitz in 1920s New York, with references to Georgia O'Keeffe, Arthur Dove, Henry McBride, and others.
The Chief Johnson Totem Pole
Learn about the story of Fog Woman and Raven and the generations of this totem pole from the Tlingit
Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Good Shepherd
Painted after the end of World War I and amid pressure to "represent his race" as a Black man, Tanner brings biblical scenes into the modern world
Walter Ufer, Hunger
Ufer, a German immigrant to the United States, seeks an authentic American art in New Mexico on the heels of World War I and the influenza epidemic.
Rosa Rolanda, Self-Portrait
Rolanda, a close friend of Frida Kahlo, explores her Mexican identity in the 1930s with surrealism and a volcano
