arts. writing. culture.

After a brief hiatus, I’m back and armed with the details of a wonderfully comprehensive and informative gallery exhibition I attended last night at The Katonah Art Museum in Katonah, NY. Well I have to say that, with my literary and art history background, my appreciation and expectations were high for this show: Bold, Cautious, True: Walt Whitman and American Art During the Civil War Era.

I felt like the gallery was arranged just for me, tying in Whitman verses with artistic renderings of high-profile figures and societal issues of such a historically important time period. Ringing true of the recent American Stories exhibition I just previewed at the Met, viewing this exhibition so soon after American Stories helped draw figurative lines that connected the two, allowing me to visualize a broader scope of artistic trends and issues of the time. Most noteworthy for me were two contrasting portraits of Walt Whitman used in different editions of his masterpiece Leaves of Grass.

First was Samuel Hollyer’s “Portrait of Walt Whitman” from 1854, used in the 1855 version of LofG. Picturing him in workmen’s clothes, Whitman stands with one hand on his hip, one in his pocket, defiant of societal norms and polite conventions of the time. The other portrait by Charles Hine, painted in 1860 was used in the 3rd edition–the first to be published by a publisher (Thayer and Eldridge). Whitman particularly loved this one because, although he still didn’t give in to conventions, he felt it portrayed him as a more refined literary figure despite the criticism he was up against at the time.

Not always attracted to portraiture, I found myself particularly gravitating toward these paintings, as well as a George P.A. Healy portrait of Abraham Lincoln only days after his election into office. They seemed to say much more about not only the progression and development of these men but about the state of the Civil War, slavery, and the types of efforts that were being made, in various forms, to contribute to ending the ongoing conflict.

Renowned author and Lincoln expert Philip Kunhardt gave a lecture, “The President and the Poet: The Converging Lives of Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman,” following my viewing of the exhibition. An exceptionally interesting parallel between author and president, Kunhardt spoke of the similarities (more than I realized) and differences of author and president.

Drawing up side-by-side pictures of the men on a presentation screen, Kunhardt demonstrated similar paths and progressions in their lives until the point of Lincoln’s assassination and Whitman’s death as an older man. He also outlined their backgrounds–both farmers’ sons, devoted to bringing unity to the nation, and both not giving great concern to their physical appearance– describing how each influenced the other significantly. Lincoln, reading aloud from Whitman’s work, appreciated his zest for life and patriotism for his country, Lincoln’s prose becoming more Whitman-esque along the way. Whitman, admiring Lincoln so much that it fueled some of his greatest works of poetry (“When Last the Lilacs in the Doorway Bloom’d” and “O Captain, My Captain”), supported the president even when he faced criticism.

Having researched Whitman, Emerson and the likes, I was hoping to gain additional information from Kunhardt’s notable background. Articulate, engaging and informative, that’s just what happened. I’m anxious to read his literature! I do plan to go back to the gallery and explore a few areas that I didn’t get to sift through as thoroughly as I would’ve liked and will pick up the oversized hardcover catalog book as well. The beauty of living 15 minutes away from such a beautiful museum!

The juxtaposition between several elements of art—literature and painting—with an important historical backdrop was impressive and rewarding to view.

The exhibition runs through January 24, 2010– so catch it while you can!