Question of the Week: What art from Civil War participants do you find most interesting?
What sort of artistic expression from Civil War participants do you find most interesting: paintings, drawings, newspaper woodcuts, poetry, creating dice in POW camps, something else?
Sketches done by the soldiers who were participants, because sometimes pictures can express more than words. The sketches crafted by Sam Houston Jr (son of the famous Sam Houston) which are held at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas depict daily camp life with humor as well as some aspects of military life in a Trans-Mississippi theater artillery unit that depict calamities.
I enjoy seeing doodling and sketching in soldier letters. Sometimes its a flag, a sketch of a battle landmark, or a caricature. It reminds me of what I did in boring college classes.
Winslow Homer’s paintings are the most evocative. I love “Veteran in a Wheatfield.” But for immediacy, I like Andrew? Arthur? Waud.
A long time member of our Civil War Round Table, Ron Tunison, was an amazing sculpture. I so enjoy the very visceral pleasure of looking at his splendid pieces, especially since he left us several years ago and we only have his existing work to speak for him. Like Don Troiani, Ron was a demon for accuracy. When you looked at one of his statues, you knew you were looking at work by someone who had spent years ‘getting it right’ in terms of uniforms and the way they were worn.
I like to see sketches of camp life, or graffiti left behind – sometimes there are interesting drawings among the graffiti as well.
Before the photograph, there was the sketch. During the Civil War there were a number of War Artists in the field that documented aspects of the conflict “visually,” and most of the sketches have a “black and white” feel, due to the overwhelming use of pencil on paper. One War Artist who stands out for me is Adolph Metzner, who served with the 32nd Indiana Infantry: his sketches recorded war experiences and camp scenes and are in color. To find examples of his work search “Adolph G. Metzner Library of Congress” online…
Ambrose Bierce, the only Civil War participant to author an episode on the Twilight Zone