Great Plains Studies, Center for

 

Date of this Version

Summer 2011

Document Type

Article

Citation

Great Plains Quarterly 31:3 (Summer 2011).

Comments

Copyright © 2011 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska.

Abstract

Just when the problematic relationship between Indian portraits and the cultural politics of nineteenth- century America seemed thoroughly explored, William Truettner's new book adds vital detail to our understanding of "portrait diplomacy" and "artistic imperialism." Truettner opens with an insightful distinction between the "Noble Savage" of eighteenth-century British artists and the "Republican Indian" of artists in nineteenth-century America. British "Noble Savage" imagery depicted Mohawks as a "sovereign people" and as "visiting royalty." Truettner shows how artists such as William Hodges, Thomas Hardy, and Benjamin West portrayed Indian leaders as both active in the future of colonial politics and comfortable with a level of "cross-dressing" or "hybrid status" between Indian and European dress and societies.

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