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Events
Jun. 30 | 2012 Bode-Pearson Prize
Nominations for the 2012 Bode-Pearson Prize for Outstanding Contributions to American Studies due
Jun. 30 | 2012 Mary C. Turpie Prize
Nominations for the 2012 Mary C. Turpie Prize for Outstanding Contributions to American Studies Teaching, Advising, and Program Development due
Oct. 1 | Travel Grants for Graduate Students
For submission guidelines, click here
Resources: Abstracts of American Studies Dissertations
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Tucker, Richard. "Brushstroke: Commerical Icon and Cultural Image," American Studies, George Washington University, April 2001.
This dissertation illustrates the way visual imagery is appropriated across cultures and art worlds as it explores the connotations of the brushstroke, a visual image which has recently proliferated in contemporary commercial contexts. It describes the historical process by which the brushstroke accrued its varied connotations, emphasizing the development of oil painting, the expansion of art markets, the emergence of avant-gardes, the growth of a formalist aesthetic, and the appropriative practices concomitant with artistic Orientalism. Over one hundred examples of brushwork in cultural products both elite and popular are discussed in light of commentary from artists, critics, art historians and graphic design professionals. It concludes that the confluence of the artistic traditions of Western oil painting and Eastern brush painting/calligraphy in Abstract Expressionism facilitated the emergence of the freestanding brushstroke as an emic unit and an icon available for exploitation as an advertising image. It further asserts that the accelerated appropriation of such historically complex imagery to commercial contexts is contributing to contemporary psycho/social disorientation.
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