| This paper is an investigation of the way in which certain artists were characterized as "American" in the late nineteenth century despite numerous contradictory conditions, primarily the fact that they did not live in the United States. After the Civil War, America turned to Europe for inspiration and cultural refinement. Professional artists were almost universally sent to Europe for training, and some chose to stay for decades if not the remainder of their lives. The paper focuses primarily on Frank Duveneck working in Munich, James McNeill Whistler in London, and John Singer Sargent in Paris. By focusing on portraiture, a genre of painting which inevitably links painting to society at large, the often confusing and contradictory nature of national classification in art is illuminated, as the creation and reception of these works are examined as evidence of the relationship between art, citizenship, and national identity. |
