What Were Most of the Paintings of the American Revolution About?
The American Revolution was a time for artists to express the rebellion, war and action that happened all around them. Most of the artwork made depicted the war and battles going on. They would be about anything from wars and battle scenes to great generals' deaths and surrender. Most paintings would show great leadership, luck, and sacrifice. Sometimes, previously made portraits and sketches were useful references to add detail in battle scenes.
Source:
http://www.nohum.k12.ca.us/tah/TAH5Topics/Art%20of%20the%20American%20Revolution.pdf
Source:
http://www.nohum.k12.ca.us/tah/TAH5Topics/Art%20of%20the%20American%20Revolution.pdf
Compared With 2012...
Again, what art is really about all depends on a couple of variations. It would usually depend on what art they would want to create and what message they specifically want to get out into the world. Maybe their art worships some kind of prominent figure in their life, or they want to protest something that they think is unfair in their world, but they aren't really good at expressing those feelings in a direct way. Graffiti is an excellent example of this. Even though it's considered vandalism of public property, it can be about the feelings that the artist has to external factors of the reality (public figures, the government, religion). The artist could use this as a mean of making their own mark or message on the world.