Access Type
Open Access
Entry Number
113
Start Date
4-5-2017 3:30 PM
End Date
4-5-2017 3:45 PM
Department
History
Abstract
Much has been written about the presidency of the United States and the individuals that have inhabited its office. However, not much research has been dedicated to the presidential portraits that commemorate each president’s term served. Yet it is within the plane of a portrait that an artist has encapsulated the gargantuan nature of the public figure alongside the vulnerability of the private individual. Presidential portraits possess a psychological nature which creates a reciprocity between the viewer and the subject. Through all of this the presidential portrait has become a means for the American public to understand and recognize each individual president. Thus this project will examine how presidential portraits can harness and impact the legacy of this office from a historical as well as artistic perspective. It will specifically address this question by examining portraits in light of a president’s popularity, a term’s historic and political context, the portrait’s artistic innovation and dynamic, and a president’s private personality. It is in this method that the project will explore how presidential portraiture has shaped the iconography of the public perception of United States presidency as well as the intrinsic value of each private individual who has born that title.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Adam Dean, Dr. Beth Savage, and Dr. Barbara Rothermel
Rights Statement
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Hail to the Chief: Official Presidential Portraits and the Imagery of the Private Individual in the Public Office
Much has been written about the presidency of the United States and the individuals that have inhabited its office. However, not much research has been dedicated to the presidential portraits that commemorate each president’s term served. Yet it is within the plane of a portrait that an artist has encapsulated the gargantuan nature of the public figure alongside the vulnerability of the private individual. Presidential portraits possess a psychological nature which creates a reciprocity between the viewer and the subject. Through all of this the presidential portrait has become a means for the American public to understand and recognize each individual president. Thus this project will examine how presidential portraits can harness and impact the legacy of this office from a historical as well as artistic perspective. It will specifically address this question by examining portraits in light of a president’s popularity, a term’s historic and political context, the portrait’s artistic innovation and dynamic, and a president’s private personality. It is in this method that the project will explore how presidential portraiture has shaped the iconography of the public perception of United States presidency as well as the intrinsic value of each private individual who has born that title.