William Sidney Mount (A Long Island Artist): His Life and His Work

William Sidney Mount was a genre painter labeled by his critics “absolutely American”. Mount grounded his work on subtle variations of countryfolk, rural activities, social arrangements and the body politic of the 19th century. He created paintings of the Yankee Yeoman, the African American Citizen, the Rural Farmboy and the Gambling Sovereigns.  

William Sidney Mount was the only artist of the 1830’s to take issue with the discrepancies in the democracy – he put politics into the public arena with deceptively innocent pictorial language.

Mount could “stir people up” with his revealing visual criticism.

This slideshow/lecture will spotlight the blithness of Mount’s treatment of powder keg political issues of the 19th century – genre paintings with visual puns fundamental to the economic, political and social realms of the time.

Enter the world of William Sidney Mount and view the paintings that delight, amaze and seduce the viewer with explicit commentary that will clarify the complex, riddling content of his genre paintings.

Works of Art and the Bible

This slideshow presents art through the centuries that were inspired by the literature of the Bible. Gain a richer understanding of the narrative through a close examination of breathtaking and provocative art. Discover the human profile of love, rage, mirth, incest, obedience and infidelity drawn from the compelling tales of the Bible.  

The viewer will see the beauty of Rachel, the finding of Moses, the spirit of Ruth, the blinding of Samson, the rescue of Dinah, the decapitation of Holofernes and even a talking mule through the vision of vigorous artists. This programme is unique and unforgettable; a celebration of life lived deeply through laughter, tears, passion and hardship of the characters. You, the audience will ponder, reflect and at times giggle.

The Arts and Crafts Movement in America

The Arts and Crafts movement was born out of the despair of the ornate clutter of the Victorian era. Works of extraordinary vibrancy and intellectual rigour were produced. The crafts persons opposed vulgarity, pretension and shoddy workmanship.  

The movement championed the maker and the process of making, as much as the objects made.

This illustrated lecture will offer an overview of this highly popular intellectual and artistic movement which transformed the expectations of architecture and objects and spread the ideas world wide.