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War News from Mexico

Artist Richard Caton Woodville (1825 - 1855)

Date1848

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions27 × 25 in. (68.6 × 63.5 cm)
Framed: 38 3/4 in. × 36 1/4 in. × 5 in.

ClassificationsPainting

Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2010.74

Accession number 2010.74

On View

On view

Provenanceto (American Art-Union, New York, NY), 1849; George W. Austen, 1849; Marshall O. Roberts [1813-1880], New York, NY, 1856; by bequest to Sarah Endicott Roberts (his wife), 1880; to (Ortgies & Company, New York, NY), January 1897; to (Samuel P. Avery, New York, NY), 1897; John D. Crimmins [1844-1917], New York, NY, 1897; to the National Academy of Design, New York, NY, 1897; purchased by Richard and Jane Manoogian Foundation, Taylor, MI, 1994; purchased by a private foundation for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2004
Label TextThis genre painting (scene of everyday life) represents the hierarchies of American society during the time period of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). Only white men with the ability to vote appear within the stage-like space of the porch. A woman listens from the hotel interior, while an African American man and child sit on the steps near the ground. The presence of African Americans signals the debate ongoing at the time about whether slavery would spread to the regions ceded to the US by Mexico.

Esta pintura de género (escena de la vida cotidiana) representa las jerarquías de la sociedad estadounidense durante el período de la guerra entre México y los Estados Unidos (1846-1848). Solo los hombres blancos con la capacidad de votar aparecen dentro del espacio similar a un escenario en el porche. Una mujer escucha desde el interior de un hotel, mientras un hombre y un niño afroamericanos permanecen sentados en los escalones, cerca del suelo. La presencia de los afroamericanos señala el debate vigente en esa época acerca de si la esclavitud debía expandirse a las regiones que México había cedido a los Estados Unidos.