This characture of Boss Tweed was made by Thomas Nast. This comic is one of many Nast published to try and dismantle Boss Tweed's political machine, Tammany Hall. Through his machine, Boss Tweed stole millions from the people though taxes and other methods and solved his problems by throwing money at them (hence the money bag head seen here.) I was pleasantly surprised to learn how Thomas Nast was able to take down Boss Tweed in 1871 through his comic art. Nast continued to expose Tweed through his medium until Tweed was arrested. This piece is an example of how drawings were used to express views on issues in the news.
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Here we have an excerpt from a newspaper published in May of 1886 in the Pulaski Citizen. It talks of how there will be a party, and more importantly, "admission to Art Exhibit will be reduced to 15 cents." This really lets us see how art and art museums were still appreciated at the time and were relatively accessible. Other things mentioned in the paper cost $2-$1, but the admission to the Exhibit costs less than these. Art was accessible to everyone in that time, as it should be. I figured viewing art would be a thing only upper-class individuals would have in the Gilded age, but this has told me otherwise.
(Primary source 2)
"We remember Wounded Knee" was published sometime between 1973 and 1980. It was created in remembrance of Wounded Knee (1890), which is arguably the worst massacre to befall the Native Americans. The work was originally a woodcut made by Bruce Carter and made into protest posters and prints. "We remember Wounded Knee" does not utuilize many colors or textures, but rather relies on a stark contrast between black and white to attract attention. The negative space around the child in the bottom left area draws attention to their unhappy demeanor. (Photograph 1)
This drawing was taken from a book called "Harper's first reader" that was published in 1888. The art itself was done by Jessie Shepherd, and the piece is called "Dressing up the cat." The title is very fitting as in the photo, one can see a little girl dressing up her black cat in doll clothes while a little boy, presumably her brother, watches from behind a door with his dog. I found this piece intriguing as it was part of a book that was presumably used to teach reading. In 1880-1890, worldwide literacy only stood at 20-21%. The fact that this drawing aided in reading probably helped that. As for the artistic values of "Dressing up the cat," something you may not have known is that this is a "wash drawing," which is basically a pencil sketch drawn over (usually) grey, black, and white watercolors. There is a lot of negative space in this drawing above the girl's head, which I see as sort of odd. Another strange thing about this drawing is that the boy's plants are nearly black, which draws your eyes to them. You would think the artist wouldn't color them in such a fashion that would draw your eyes to them. However, the anatomy in this piece is very good, and the art itself is very realistic. (Photograph 2)
Here we have a painting by William Keith, who was famous for painting landscapes. This particular painting is of the Yosemite Valley and was made in 1875. Perhaps the photo was of people exploring the land, as people on horseback can be seen along with people camping. A river can be seen in the foreground, reflecting the sky and forest, and the rest of the valley can be seen in the background. Yellowstone National Park was created in 1872, so it's intriguing to see what the place looked like so long ago. Preserving the land in the national park means that the land probably looks similar today as it does then, which is interesting to think about it. As for the art itself, it is very well made. The colors in the sky are blended together well and you can clearly see how the light is coming over the mountains beyond. The implied textures in the trees make them look almost real. And lastly, the reflections in the water look very accurate.
This photograph was taken by Timothy H. O'Sullivan in 1873. After taking photos in the Civil war, O'Sullivan was recruited to take photos in the West to encourage people to move there. This such photo, Ancient Ruins in the Canon de Chelley, was also taken in the west in Arizona, 1873. O'Sullivan's photo of the ancient ruins ties into the settlement of the west as he tried to help others move there. It also shows some of the sights and thus, pull factors the West had to offer. I was actually really amazed by this photograph, and I certainly would've trekked out west to see things like this. The arching walls of the canyon, the crumbling brick ruins, and the large cave lurking behind the walls all appear very inciting. This photo was expertly taken as your eyes go right to the ruins, which is definitely meant to be the focal point of the photo as evidenced by the title. Even for an old photo, you can still tell the implied textures of the walls and trees in the photo. (Photograph 3)
Graph
The map here shows what the United States looked like in the year 1900, effectively showing the aftermath of the Gilded age. It shows what areas are states, what areas are territories, and what has been left unorganized. It also explains when states were admitted into the union and what they were to the United States in 1900 if they were not states. With this map we are able to see just how much of the west has been conquered. Something I learned from this graph is that Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma were in fact not states at the end of the Gilded age. It was also surprising to see that Alaska and Hawaii were already territories at this point. (Piece of data)