Native peoples and colonies
Long before the Europeans arrived, North America had rich artistic traditions; the colonists brought the portrait and their crafts with them from Europe.
Art in what is now the United States does not begin with the colonists. For thousands of years the Indigenous peoples had had their own traditions: pottery and textiles in the Southwest, carved masks and totem poles on the Northwest Coast, beadwork and painted hides on the Plains. Much of this consisted of functional and ceremonial objects, made to be used rather than displayed. The concept of art in the European sense therefore fits only in part.
In the 16th and 17th centuries English, Dutch, French, Spanish and even Swedish colonists arrived. They brought their crafts with them: furniture making, silversmithing and house building. Painting was rare at first. What was in demand was portraits, often painted by itinerant painters known as limners. The pictures are flat and stiff, but they show how the colonists wished to be seen: as respectable and prosperous people.
In the 18th century the colonies grew richer and portraiture more sophisticated. John Singleton Copley in Boston painted merchants and their wives with a sharp realism unmatched in the colonies. He and Benjamin West eventually moved to London, where they achieved success. This shows how long American artists depended on Europe for training and recognition.