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Monday, May 11, 2009

Visual Art 'Torture Will Get You Nowhere'

Posted by Jen Graves on Mon, May 11, 2009 at 3:34 PM

John Trumbull was no Goya. He was a patriot and a politician. First, he fought the British, savagely. Then he painted them, decorously.

Here's his view of the Battle of Bunker Hill, a bitter defeat for the Americans. The British colonel holds back his underling, who is about to strike a redundant mortal blow on the downed American general. "Torture will get you nowhere," SAM American art curator Patti Junker said this painting speaks to her. Taking the sportsmanlike attitude even further, Trumbull paints a British soldier behind the main V of figures, dying in the arms of his son, both sympathetic figures.

Trumbull made this painting in 1786. He eventually bequeathed it as part of his collection to Yale University, helping to form the Yale Art Gallery. In exchange for his gift, Yale supported Trumbull with a yearly stipend until his death. The gift also had a restriction: that Trumbull's paintings could not be physically separated from Yale—and that if they were, ownership of them would revert to Harvard, Trumbull's alma mater. (Way to play them against each other, John.) For this traveling exhibition they have a one-time travel dispensation.

Tomorrow I'll post a full podcast with curator Junker, who talks about Trumbull, the course of enlightenment, whether George de Forest Brush's paintings are racist, the new Louis Sullivan acquisition at SAM, taking a fresh look at Bierstadt's semi-silly Puget Sound painting, and more.

Comments (3) RSS

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This picture is at SAM? (You imply this, but do not state it) If so, OMG! I spent hours and hours poring over a decent (for the 1970s) repro of this when I lived in Boston as a tot. WHAT ELSE IS OVER THERE NOW! OMG.

Posted by mwhybark on May 11, 2009 at 4:08 PM

Bunker Hill was a defeat, but hardly a bitter one - the British suffered enormous casualties, disproportionately among officers. British General Clinton remarked that "A few more such victories would have shortly put an end to British dominion in America."

Posted by Reader on May 11, 2009 at 4:24 PM

@1: Get thee to SAM and commence soiling your drawers.

Posted by bronkitis on May 12, 2009 at 8:55 AM