Pocahontas and liberty displaying the arts and science

Art

Women in Art

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and analyze the paintings "Pocahontas" by Simon van de Passe and "Liberty Displaying the Arts and Science" by Samuel Jennings. Specifically it will compare the two works, and illustrate how differently the two artists portray the women of America.

Both of these paintings depict American women, but at very different times in history. Van de Passe's work was painted from the real Pocahontas in 1616, while Jennings' work was painted in 1792, after America won her independence from Great Britain. Thus, the style and message of the two painting vary greatly, but they hold some commonalities, as well. The first depicts a Native American woman who denies her own culture in an attempt to become "civilized," while the other celebrates emancipation and freedom. How the artists view these two different American women is very interesting and representative of American history at the time they were painted.

Van de Passe's work is an engraving done from real life, but it seems the more unrealistic of the two works. First, he depicts the native woman in full, formal English dress, rather than her own native garments, and he depicts her as extremely formal, even rigid, and unyielding. His rendition of her facial features is stoic, in fact, if it were not for the dress, she could be mistaken for a man in this portrait. Her fingers and features are reminiscent of an animal or inhuman creature, perhaps a monkey of some sort, so the artist seems to be saying that even though Pocahontas took an English name, Rebecca, and learned to behave like an Englishwoman, she was still a "savage" animal from the New World. There is something frightening about her in this portrait, as well, her head seems to be floating above the ornate collar of the dress, as if it does not belong there, and perhaps this was another message Van de Passe was sending with this portrait.

This engraving shows how art changed from the 16th to the 17th centuries, as well, partly because of the revolutions and enlightened thinking that was going on around the world. Van de Passe's work is a stark, black and white engraving, enriched with incredible detail in the costume, and far less detail in the features of Pocahontas. The artist depicts the woman as rigid and without any emotion, so she looks frightening and a bit intimidating, as well. She also seems older than she really was; she looks almost aged in this portrait, although she could not have been more than 20 or so at the time. Her hands, which look bony and almost arthritic, also add to the appearance of age. The engraving, unlike most portraits, was not really meant to be a good likeness of Pocahontas; instead, it was used as a marketing ploy to gain investors into Jamestown in the New World. The detail of this work was in the dress and surroundings, to attract English investors and illustrate how successful the colonists were in "civilizing" the savage population of America. Pocahontas was really secondary, and simply a tool in the artist's hands. This also differs greatly from the "Liberty" painting, which celebrated the freedom and wisdom of a new country, and so appeared much more lifelike and true to real images.

In contrast, "Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences" by Samuel Jennings, an oil-on-canvas piece, utilizes color, rich realistic details, and an enlightened theme to indicate that America has "grown up" and gained her independence. The painting uses rich details, but they paint a very different picture of America and American women. In this painting, Liberty is a beautiful and benevolent blonde woman who shares a library of knowledge and thought with America's newest emancipated black residents. The painting was created by American painter Samuel Jennings, and it indicates just how much art changed in the century and a half that passed since Van de Passe's work on Pocahontas debuted. The painting is much more detailed than the engraving, but it also carries a very different message. Liberty is depicted as a wise and nurturing woman, with realistic, yet severe features, administering to blacks who had gained freedom (something hoped for in the Constitution but not realized for nearly another 100 years). Clearly, Jennings had high hopes for America, and saw the country as a refuge for freedom, liberty, and equality. However, women do not play a major role in this new world of freedom. They may dole out knowledge to "second class" citizens, but in reality, their main job was to have children and raise them to become good, solid leaders. They were to have sons, and plenty of them.

What is most interesting is how the two paintings depict American women. Van de Passe's portrait is one of the first truly remarkable American women, and yet, his only interest is portraying her as an Englishwoman and effectively erasing her Native American roots. She depicts nothing of her heritage, but nothing of real American women, either. It is as if these American women do not really exist, and the only "true" women are those that embrace English customs and ideals. As textbook writer David Bjelajac notes, "Women were relegated to the private domestic realm of republican motherhood to rear virtuous sons, the nation's future citizens" (Bjelajac 119). In fact, both of these paintings go to great lengths to portray women as virtuous and very proper, something expected of women at the time. Pocahontas does nothing in her portrait, while at least Liberty shares knowledge, but is with the "black uneducated" who were also thought to be savages at the time by many, and so, her sharing is viewed as more philanthropic than in any way of import to the growing nation of America. In other words, both women really did not make any lasting contributions of importance to America and American freedom, instead, they were savages or dealt with savages, and were not involved in the "important" job of running and creating a new nation.

This indicates how women were treated during this time, and beyond. They did not gain the right to vote until 1920, and they have long been treated as second-class citizens in the workplace and in many other areas of society. According to most men, women were meant to raise children and be mothers, while the men took on the more important and influential jobs of state and country. This is shown in both these portraits quite distinctly. Pocahontas is clearly a women of leisure - she dresses in fine clothing and has little to distract her. In fact, she was a mother at the time, and she died in England of smallpox, leaving her son behind. She left her people and her culture to marry and Englishman, and did not question the need to change her name, become a Christian, and denounce her former name. She was under the influence of her husband, but also a creation of a society that did not value or place importance on women, other than mothers. In fact, her husband, John Rolfe, even noted he married her for the "good" of the Jamestown Plantation. He told her father, that he chose her not for "the unbridled desire of carnal affection: but for the good of this plantation, for the honor of our country, for the glory of God, for my own salvation, and for converting to the true knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, an unbelieving creature, namely Pocahontas" (Bjelajac 29). Therefore, Rolfe married this woman not for love, or even affection, but in order to convert her to Christianity and his "own salvation." He was a widower, he was lonely, and he needed a woman to take care of him.