Group portraits in Picturing America at the Newark Museum.(Newark, NJ)

On May 6, the Newark Museum will open its newly installed American Art Galleries with a groundbreaking exhibition entitled Picturing America. For the first time this collection, which is one of the richest and most comprehensive in the nation, is arranged thematically so that American art is presented in the context of major developments in the country's history and culture.

Group portraits have always provided a fascinating opportunity to examine the society and culture of a particular period because the sitters are shown in contemporary dress and settings. This article examines ten of the Newark Museum's outstanding group portraits from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which provide a broad survey of American cultural aspirations, values, tastes, and styles of life during a period of about 150 years.

During the eighteenth century, portraiture was the only branch of the fine arts that flourished in America, but group portraits were rare because there was a dearth of artists capable of executing these complicated pictures involving a number of figures. Group portraits were also rare because they were expensive and their size often required large public rooms for display. [1]

Family Group, by the English-born and trained artist John Wollaston (Pl. I), dates from the mid-eighteenth century. This charming portrait seems to reflect a number of Enlightenment ideas that had begun to influence family life and values in America. Partly as a result of the writings of the English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704), women were achieving greater authority and respect at home, which is reflected in the portrait by the placement of the mother at almost the same level as her husband. [2] This can be seen to indicate the increased equality of the sexes in their roles as parents. Another Enlightenment idea that affected American families during the mid-eighteenth century was the recognition of childrens' need to play and their need for love and affection rather than constant discipline. These ideas are alluded to in this affable portrait by the angelic baby grasping a toy rattle while being tenderly held by its mother. Family Group convincingly celebrates the contentment of a loving family and, by implication, a companionable marriage. [3]

While lacking the overt tenderness of Family Group, another depiction of a loving couple is Colonel and Mrs. William Shultz Little, dating from the 1820s and attributed to Ammi Phillips (Pl. III). [4] The Littles turn to ward each other and although they do not physically touch, they are closely related in their poses and placement in the nichelike setting. The artist reinforces the theme of a congenial marriage with his choice of a harmonious palette of rich reds, pinks, grays, browns, and blacks.

During the 1820s, Americans were infatuated with the classical style, which influenced architecture, painting, furniture, clothing, and even hairstyles. The Littles lived in rural Ulster County New York, yet classical references abound in this painting. The simple Doric columns and Mrs. Little's high-waisted dress in the French Empire style are both of Greek origin, as is the arrangement of her hair with tight curls surrounding her face. Dressed in the latest urban fashions, the Littles are depicted as genteel, refined, and affluent.

By the 1830s, fashions had again changed and women were wearing dresses with gigot sleeves, examples of which can be seen in Asher B. Durand's Portrait of the Artist's Wife and Her Sister of 1834 (Pl. II). This highly personal work depicts the artist's second wife, Mary Frank, dressed in bridal white, and her sister, Jane Cordelia Frank. [5] Painted in the year of Durand's marriage to Mary, this is a kind of wedding portrait, celebrating their union and the artist's love for his new wife. Women were traditionally associated with nature, in part because they were thought to be spontaneous, emotional, and intuitive. However, in this work, the woodland setting also indicates Durand's growing interest in landscape painting, which subsequently became his specialty and resulted in his becoming a key figure in the Hudson River school.