Picturing Old New England: Image and Memory

This is a remarkable book. It could not exist but for cultural studies and postmodernism. The time frame is 1865 to 1945. By 1865 New England was the most highly urbanized area in the U.S. By 1875 more than half of the Massachusetts residents lived in cities. Maine's greatest period of industrialization occurred between 1880 and 1910. In the last quarter of the century New England seemed to be thriving, but it was no longer in the economic vanguard. Also, growth for the cities meant crisis for the countryside. Rural isolated areas became vacation sites and artistic destinations. In the 1920's Massachusetts lost jobs in textiles and shoes. From the 1870's and on vast numbers of scenic-rural paintings were produced. In the early 1870's APPLETON'S JOURNAL ran a series entitled picturesque America. Chapters included the coast of Maine, Providence, the White Mountains. A wealth of images were created by artists and writers. New England became a national memory bank. The pilgrims and the Revolutionary War were historicized. After the Civil War antiquarianism was evident at all levels of society. The chapter on yankee modernism encompassing John Marin, Stuart Davis, Marsden Hartley, Edward Hopper, Charles Demuth is delightful. Artist biographies appear at the back of the book. The pictures are splendid.