William Dunlap (painter)

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William Dunlap

William Dunlap (born February 19, 1766 in Perth Amboy , New Jersey , † September 28, 1839 in New York , New York ) was an American painter, art historian and writer.

life and work

Dunlap started out as a painter, but soon turned to writing. As a playwright, he became one of the most prolific playwrights of young America. With André he wrote one of the first major tragedies in the United States; he wrote around 60 pieces in total. From 1798 he was friends with August Kotzebue and translated his plays into English. In addition to Kotzebue's works, he staged plays by other German authors on American stages, including August Wilhelm Iffland , Heinrich Zschokke and Friedrich Schiller . Dunlap also published the first most comprehensive history of theater in the United States.

Through his many relationships with contemporary American artists, he put together the first collection of American artist biographies with A History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States (first edition 1834) and was therefore also called the 'American Vasari '. The work is a comprehensive show of American painting from its beginnings to Thomas Cole and shaped by Dunlap's national and republican beliefs. In it he drew the ideal image of the American artist, which has long shaped American art history, who, free from the class constraints of European society, is able to create a free art.

William Dunlap was a founding member of the National Academy of Design in 1826 .

Works (selection)

Dramas

  • André (1798)
  • The Stranger (1798)
  • False Shame (1799)
  • The Italian father (1799)
  • The Virgin of the Sun (1800)

Literary and art criticism

  • History of the American theater (1832)
  • A history of the rise and progress of the arts of design in the United States (1834)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nationalacademy.org: Past Academicians "D" / Dunlap, William Founder NA 1826 ( Memento of January 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed June 20, 2015)

literature

  • Oral S. Coad: William Dunlap . - New York, Russell & Russell, 1962
  • Johannes Strohschänk: William Dunlap and August von Kotzebue . - Stuttgart, Heinz, 1992

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Dunlap, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American painter, art historian, and writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 19, 1766
PLACE OF BIRTH Perth Amboy , New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH September 28, 1839
Place of death New York City