The Hunter Museum exhibits American art spanning centuries - some works date back to the founding of our country, while others are more recent. Explore patriotic works in the collection from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries below.
George Washington holds the honor of being the most frequently painted president in U.S. history, with a single artist painting 79 portraits of the Revolutionary War hero. At only 17, Rembrandt Peale painted Washington over three consecutive mornings at the president’s home in Philadelphia. Peale painted Washington obsessively after this sitting, mimicking his own work with minor changes in detail and improved technique, all to accurately capture Washington’s iconic heroism. One of Peale’s Washington portraits is on view in the Hunter Museum’s mansion, while others reside in the U.S. Senate Art Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the White House, and more.
For this work, groundbreaking photorealist painter Audrey Flack responded to the question “What does Independence mean to me?” through the lens of consumer culture and personal memory.
Flack was inspired by her memories of the Fourth of July while growing up in New York City, saying, “all the objects I represented in the work came out of my American childhood. I have chosen these objects because they evoke memories, feelings, sounds, and colors of America. The brash sound of a trumpet, the tinsel of a shiny firecracker, the kitsch appeal of a dime store liberty bell. I have tried to create an absolutely American still life.”
Painter and sculptor Mimi Herbert, renowned for her bright colors and inventive use of acrylic, was fascinated with the fluid motion of textiles, which led to an investigation of flags moving in the wind. For more than 50 years, Herbert has used silkscreened, formed acrylic to create flags of many nationalities and causes, but, most prolifically, she created American flags like the one on view at the Hunter Museum. “Celebration Flag” is not a traditional flag - rather, it is half blank, inviting viewers to ponder the future of our nation.
by Mackenzie Johnson
George Washington holds the honor of being the most frequently painted president in U.S. history, with a single artist painting 79 portraits of the Revolutionary War hero. At only 17, Rembrandt Peale painted Washington over three consecutive mornings at the president’s home in Philadelphia. Peale painted Washington obsessively after this sitting, mimicking his own work with minor changes in detail and improved technique, all to accurately capture Washington’s iconic heroism. One of Peale’s Washington portraits is on view in the Hunter Museum’s mansion, while others reside in the U.S. Senate Art Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the White House, and more.
For this work, groundbreaking photorealist painter Audrey Flack responded to the question “What does Independence mean to me?” through the lens of consumer culture and personal memory.
Flack was inspired by her memories of the Fourth of July while growing up in New York City, saying, “all the objects I represented in the work came out of my American childhood. I have chosen these objects because they evoke memories, feelings, sounds, and colors of America. The brash sound of a trumpet, the tinsel of a shiny firecracker, the kitsch appeal of a dime store liberty bell. I have tried to create an absolutely American still life.”
Painter and sculptor Mimi Herbert, renowned for her bright colors and inventive use of acrylic, was fascinated with the fluid motion of textiles, which led to an investigation of flags moving in the wind. For more than 50 years, Herbert has used silkscreened, formed acrylic to create flags of many nationalities and causes, but, most prolifically, she created American flags like the one on view at the Hunter Museum. “Celebration Flag” is not a traditional flag - rather, it is half blank, inviting viewers to ponder the future of our nation.
by Mackenzie Johnson
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