Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze (1816-1868)
1860
Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way [Westward Ho!]

Painting
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Courtesy of Ad Meskens - photograph taken in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC
 
In 1860 Leutze was commissioned by the U.S. Congress to decorate a stairway in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, for which he painted a large composition, Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way, which is also commonly known as Westward Ho!. The painting is a study for the mural. It celebrates the idea of the Manifest Destiny at the time when the Civil War threatened the republic.
 
This photographs of the painting was taken by Ad Meskens.
 
LL/33119