Many works of art from the eighteenth and nineteenth century have influenced the styles which artists use in the twentieth century. The expressions produced by twentieth century artists range from abstract to realistic. In the painting, Thirteen Americans which hangs in the LBJ Library in Austin, TX, the artist, Alfred Leslie, uses artistic styles such as size, materials used, techniques used, color, line, space, lighting, composition, and the meaning of the title to improve the expressive content of the work of art and tell the story of President Lyndon Johnson.
             The size of the painting and the materials and techniques used to create Thirteen Americans contribute to the overall effect of the painting. The large scale of the painting creates a more realistic view of the work. With the painting being nine feet by eleven feet, the figures obviously are life size and the size gives the artist room to work with the line up of the characters. The viewer of the painting can relate to the figures better by seeing them in life size rather than dwarfed on a typical small canvas. The materials and technique used also add to the overall effect of the painting. The medium used for the painting is oil on canvas so the fast drying paint gave Leslie little time to paint the figures. Thirteen Americans possesses a linear paint style exemplified by the crisp edges and the clarity of separation of the main figures in the painting. Leslie brought back styles evident in the realist era and as far back as the Renaissance times in his medium of oil and use of linear style.
             Colors used by Leslie and the placement of the figures illuminates the figures and groups the characters together in Thirteen Americans. Vibrant colors separate the figures from each other and add to the crisp edges of each person. Primary as well as secondary colors are used in the characters' clothing to make distinctions among them. Extreme use of shadowing on the faces adds...