1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910460445703321

Autore

Bellion Wendy

Titolo

Citizen spectator : art, illusion, and visual perception in early national America / / Wendy Bellion

Pubbl/distr/stampa

[Chapel Hill, North Carolina] : , : The University of North Carolina Press, , 2012

©2012

ISBN

0-8078-3890-X

1-4696-0043-9

Edizione

[First edition.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (384 p.)

Collana

Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia

Disciplina

701/.03097309033

Soggetti

Art and society - United States - History - 18th century

Art and society - United States - History - 19th century

Optical illusions in art

Visual perception - Social aspects - United States - History - 18th century

Visual perception - Social aspects - United States - History - 19th century

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Includes index.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Theaters of visuality -- The politics of discernment -- Sight and the city -- Imitations and originals -- Looking for the invisible lady -- Phantasmagoric Washington.

Sommario/riassunto

Bellion presents an exploration of illusionistic art in the early US. She investigates Americans' experiences with material forms of visual deception, arguing that encounters with illusory art shaped their understanding of knowledge, representation, & subjectivity between 1790 and 1825. Focusing on the work of the Peale family and the Philadelphia Museum, as well as other Philadelphians, the book explores the range of illusions encountered in public spaces, from trompe l'oeil paintings & drawings to ephemeral displays of phantasmagoria, 'Invisible Ladies', and other spectacles of deception.