Painting Ephemera in the Age of Mass Production: American Trompe l’Oeil Painting and Visual Culture in the Late Nineteenth Century

Author

Katherine Brunk Harnish, Washington University in St. LouisFollow

ORCID

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7191-995X

Date of Award

Summer 8-15-2019

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Author's Department

Art History & Archaeology

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Type

Dissertation

Abstract

This study offers a fresh approach to investigating the modernization of visual media, exploring themes of media translation, appropriation, and the fine art and popular art divide. This dissertation focuses on paintings that represent prints and photographs in order to understand the relationships between all three media—relationships that changed drastically in late nineteenth-century America. William Harnett, John Haberle, and John Peto made many trompe l’oeil paintings that depict photographs, newspaper clippings, trade cards, and other ephemera. This project posits that these artists represented new media strategically to attract viewers well versed in these forms and to assert the continued relevance of painting. The tensions among these media crystalize broader cultural anxieties around modernization—about cultural legacy, class distinctions, the rapid pace of life, and consumerism’s intrusion into cultural values.

Language

English (en)

Chair and Committee

Angela Miller

Committee Members

Elizabeth Childs, Nathaniel Jones, William Wallace, Nick Yablon,

Comments

Permanent URL: https://doi.org/10.7936/3jn9-q558

Recommended Citation

Harnish, Katherine Brunk, "Painting Ephemera in the Age of Mass Production: American Trompe l’Oeil Painting and Visual Culture in the Late Nineteenth Century" (2019). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1909.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/1909