What can a painting of people on a porch reading a newspaper reveal about what it means to be an American? Angela Miller, professor of art history and archaeology at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses the intersection of American arts and nationhood. With examples of portraits, landscape and genre paintings, folk art, and more, Miller explains how visual culture both constructs and challenges the idea of American identity.
Credits:
Image Wikimedia Commons: Frederic Church, “Our Banner in the Sky” (1861). Audio Free Music Archive: podington bear, BOPD; FreeSound ADELUC4.
