Paintings
Paintings as primary sources generally include portraits, published engravings, and landscape renderings. Portraits such as those by John Singleton Copley, and engravings by Paul Revere and Amos Doolittle are featured in "Sowing the Seeds of Liberty."
Very few landscape paintings from the eighteenth century exist, however the more romantic and nostalgic mid-nineteenth century landscape images attempt to capture the look and feel of an earlier, agrarian or Revolutionary era. These can be used as primary sources NOT of the colonial era, but of the colonial era REMEMBERED.
An excellent reference and sourcebook for these images is a catalog for the National Museum of American Art’s exhibition “Picturing Old New England: Image and Memory at the National Museum of American Art.” (Edited by William H. Turettner and Roger B. Stein, published by Yale University Press, 1999.) Also, “Views and Visions: American Landscapes before 1830” by Edward J. Nygren et al is the most complete study of early American landscape paintings. In addition, several good collections of nineteenth century New England landscape paintings can be accessed on the internet, such as the web sites of Old Sturbridge Village and the Worcester Art Museum.
