FEINBERG/WHITMAN NOTES and NOTEBOOKS NOTES--Literary Jan. 1856 Indian Theme for Poem--marginalia Box 39 Folder 7 16 1856 January Notes for a Poem on the Indian: marginalia. A.MS. (1p. 29 x 20 cm. clipped) Written in pencil in the margins (top and bottom) on a page from The Crayon (New York), January 1856, on which is an article, 'The Indians in American Art, 41 words. At the top of the page: [Marriage of the Trapper] The Trapper's Bride by a Baltimore artist. At the bottom: --Has any poem yet really pourtrayed them? Would not the Indian, and the full sentiment of their life, looks, fate, simplicity &c be a good theme for a full poem?-- In the article (unsigned) Whitman has underlined four passages: 'Seen in his primitive garb, the wild untamed denizen of an un- known country, he is a sublimely eloquent representative of the 16 A mental solitude of the uncivilized wilderness.' 'Absorbed in his quiet dignity, brave, honest, eminently truthful, and always thoroughly in earnest, he stands grandly apart from all other known savage life. As such, let him be, for justice sake some- times represented.' 'The Indian, reposing at night by his camp- fire, or seen in the energy of his fiercest fight, skulking behind logs and trees, stealthily tracing his enemies' path in the leaves and bushes, grouped in council or roving in solitude--...marching in "Indian file," winding silently along through the light and shade of some grand old primitive forest.' [Marriage of the Trapper] The Trapper's Bride by a Baltimore artist. THE CRAYON. The Indians in American Art. It seems to us that the Indian has not received justice in American art. The simple dignity of his ordinary carriage does not, per- haps, permit those picturesque accessories which are indulged in by mere picture-makers; but there are sublime passages in his history that deserve illustration at the hands of our histo- rical painters. It should be held in dutiful remembrance that he is fast passing away from the face of the earth. Soon the last red man will have faded forever from his native land, and those who come after us will trust to our scanty records for their knowledge of his habits and appearance. His mighty wrongs will be charged to our account, and the repulsive savage, elevated to the dignity of a martyr, will flaunt in a thousand graces not his own, while the native grandeur of his simple habits will be lost in a glare of picturesque romanticism. Already he is oftener seen in our pictures, bedecked with European finery, than in the unadorned simplicity of his primitive condition. It suits better the purpose of our picture-makers to represent him in the more attractive aspect of his demi-civilized degradation than in the wild freedom of aboriginal manhood. Seen in his primitive garb, the wild, untamed denizen of an unknown country, he is a sublimely eloquent representative of the hidden recesses, and the mental solitude of the uncivilized wilderness. But tainted by the vices of his conquerors, clothed in the disjointed fragments of their habiliments, he is an object of disgust, too pitiable for comic portraiture, and too debased for serious art. We all love to dwell upon the Indian's story Posterity will regard him with intense interest. They will seek eagerly for every scrap of his tradition, history, and habits. We, who know by observation and are near his times, should endeavor to transmit the truth in regard to him. As it is, what with the romancer and the so-called historical painter, he stands a chance of figuring on the future canvas as a kind of savage harlequin, lost in a cloud of feathers and brilliant stuffs; or else in the other extreme, hung about with skulls, scalps, and the half-devoured fragments of the white man's carcass. All this is dramatic enough, but it is not the truest color of the historical Indian. Absorbed in his quiet dignity, brave, honest, eminently truthful, and always thoroughly in earnest, he stands grandly apart from all other known savage life. As such, let him be, for justice sake, sometimes represented. We should rejoice to se the Indian figure more upon our canvas, and the costumed European less; for it cannot be hidden that it is the seductive blandishments of the white man's clothes that allures the artist into the portraiture of his history. We have had some remarkable pictures of the red man already painted, but few of them of sufficient preten- sion to be considered by posterity as authority. A few years since, Chapman's marriage of Pocahontas, in the Rotunda at Washington,- the most ambitious attempt we now remember. Penn's treaty will of course always be regarded with reverence. West knew the Indians when comparatively untainted by the white man's vices. Some years ago, a young man by the name of Deas, sent to New York some excel- lent pictures of Western Indian life. They had the stamp of being truthful portraits. He has, in a few instances, engaged the attention of the sculptor, but altogether we think, his claims have been sadly neglected. Setting aside all the Indian history of the West, how much there is that is romantic, pe- culiar, and picturesque in his struggles with civilization in our own section of country. In Captain Church's history of Philip's war, there are innumerable incidents for the painter. To- wards the close of the war, when Philip's fol- lowers were nearly all slain, and his ruin near, the captain suddenly came upon the solitary warrior, in an open clearing, seated on a stump, his face buried in his hands, brooding over the fallen fortunes of his country. The generous old captain, touched by the picture of the chief's distress, allowed him to seize his gun, and plunge, astonished, into the recesses of the forest. Could anything be more beautiful than this incident, justly treated, either by sculpture or painting? A naked man, a stump, a few chips, a gun, would tell the whole history of the war, and a heroic man's great struggles for his nation's liberty. In the beginning of that war, the Indians were induced, by fair promises, to assemble peaceably in the log cabin church at Taunton. They were seated on one side of the house, and the English on the other, who, after lecturing them upon the white man's religion, suddenly rose and seized their arms. A brief struggle, a strife, rather of looks than hands, and the inci- dent which settled the fortunes of New Eng- land was consummated. Is this not a subject for a great picture! Picture the group of Aborigines, who, hiding in the forest, wonderingly watched the landing of the Pilgrims. What attitudes for the sculp- tor. One of them, perhaps, crawling along on his hands and knees in the snow, holding one hand over his eyes to hide the light, and the other by his side, clutching his bow, peering cautiously through a vista at the approaching strangers. Suppose an Indian hunter in this attitude, crawling along in sight or his prey, beckoning back with his hand behind him, his crouching dog, and holding with the other his gun. Here is an original action, unknown in antique sculpture-picturesque, composing agree- ably, wholly American, full of lively incident, and telling its story perfectly. The Indian , reposing at night by his camp- fire, or seen in the energy of his fiercest fight, skulking behind logs and trees, stealthily trac- ing his enemies' path in the leaves and bushes, grouped in council or roving in solitude-in all these positions, and in hundreds of others, is eminently picturesque and interesting. As an accessory in landscape, the Indian may be used with great effect. He is at home in every scene of primitive country. Picture them marching in "Indian file," winding silently along through the light and shade of some grand old primitive forest. --Has any poem yet really pourtrayed them? Would not the Indian, and the full sentiment of their life, looks, fate, simplicity &c be a good theme for a full poem?-- THE CRAYON THE CRAYON. NEW YORK, JANUARY, 1856. The Publication Office of THE CRAYON is removed to the book-store of MR. F. W. CHRISTERN, No. 763 BROADWAY, where subscriptions will be received, and all business transacted connected with the publication of this Magazine. Letters and communications relative to Editorial or business matters to be addressed to the subscribers, directed as above. STILLMAN & DURAND. TO ARTISTS - We have to urge artists at home and abroad, as well as amateurs, learned and unlearned, to favor us with communications. We desire earnestly to have THE CRAYON, the embodiment of the Art cient attraction in that to make it worth their while to read THE CRAYON, we are well assured that we shall, with them, stand no chance in the competition with periodicals devoted exclusively to "entertaining literature." Progress demands work, though one may be better pleased in idleness. So far as we can be at once attractive and instructive we shall endeavor to be so, but it seems a sad waste of life to spend it in profitless attraction - a waste of which we care to be guilty neither as principal nor accessory. OUR PRIVATE COLLECTIONS. NO. I. FEW of our citizens are aware of the large amount of artistic wealth possessed in our principal cities. There are many very valuable pictures, both of living and dead masters, contained in our private collections, making a sum total which would surprise even those most conversant with the art-patronage of our people. We purpose to make an examination of them as far as we are permitted, and give a brief account of all those which contain noteworthy works in New York, as well as in other cities, without criticism or comment, further than it may be necessary to do so in furnishing a catalogue raisonnée of them. The collection of John Wolfe, Esq., is one of the largest in New York, and, as a whole, is peculiarly valuable from its containing so many favorable representations of the different European schools. The English, French, Flemish, and Dusseldorf schools are represented with uncommonly judicious selections, considering the range of the field to choose from, and the space given to them. Of the English pictures, perhaps the most important is Leslie's "Anne Page, Slender, and Shallow," formerly in the collection of Philip Hone, Esq., and engraved by the Art-Union. T. Sidney Cooper has two pictures, one a flock of sheep; the other, cattle, sheep, and goats. They are favorable specimens of the artists. Ansdell contributes his "Stag at Bay," which is well known by the engraving from it, and a dying sheep, upon which an eagle has alighted to commence his feast, when a dog approaches, but whether as the defender or oppressor of the unfortunate quadruped seems matter of doubt; but there is a villainous look about the canine visage which makes us fear that, if the eagle leaves him, a worse tyrant will oppress his last moments. There are two pictures by Herring; a cavalier taking his stirrup cup, surrounded by domestic birds, &c. - this is a highly characteristic work - the other, if we recollect aright, has been engraved under the title of "The Horses of Pharaoh," - three horses' heads. A landscape, by Boddington, represents the executive school of English landscape. There is an exquisite water-color drawing, by Stanfield, an "Italian City," - a glorious Prout, a "View in Venice," - and a view of "Windsor," by Harding, also, in water-color, with five scriptural compositions, by Warren, President of the New Water-Color Society of London. An angel [standing?} [by?] [?] mother, by Landelle, is a better illustration of the present tendencies of French Art than either of the above - simple, effective, and possessed of the qualities of handling and touch, so much sought by the Parisians. There is a specimen of Meissonier, one of the most unique and subtle of modern painters, a man in a cabaret, painted in almost miniature size, as in all his works, but with extraordinary delicacy and breadth of execution. A fitting pendant to this is a lady arranging flowers, by Plassan, one of the same class of minute painters, brilliant and fascinating in color. A child's bath, by Lamenais, is also a good specimen of modern Gallic painting. A pair of miniature bronze alti-relievo of game, by Mène, should not be unnoticed. The Flemish painters appear to great advantage, Koekkoek having two landscapes; one a winter scene, and the other a sunset - Verboeckhoven, a shepherd coming home with his flock, a roadside scene with a group of carriers, with laden asses, cattle, &c.; and a horse and lion, a spirited piece of animal painting. Van Schendel of Brussels, a market scene, with moon-light and candle-light mixed, one of the subjects for which he has become famous. Schelfhout, apparently a disciple of Koekkoek, a winter scene, highly artistic in its use of the snow. Madou, an interior, with a fortune-teller and soldiers, delicately painted and harmonious in color, though of the grey tone so much sought in the Netherlandish art. Wappers, a composition of two young girls, whose faces contain the most perfect knowledge of expression, as it is shown in the Grisette; and Keyser, a study of two girls, gleaners, in the Dusseldorf manner. From Dusseldorf there is a repetition with wide variations, of Steinbruck's "Fairies," a wild, stormy marine, by A. Achenbach, and a landscape by his brother Oswald. Hasenclever's portrait of himself drinking, from the Crystal Palace Exhibition, and his school scene, known by the lithograph, by all odds the finest picture of his of which we know, and a most minutely-painted group of children playing, by Waldmuller. (We are not sure he hails form Dusseldorf). A Falstaff being turned out of the clothes-basket, by Schrodter, is an admirable piece of humor. A landscape, by Gude, the painter of the famous bear landscape, in the Dusseldorf collection, is also, to our mind, the best of his pictures which we have seen. Leutze is represented by one of his most thoughtful pictures - Cromwell and his Daughter. There is a fine picture by Calame, a millstream, full of minute truth and masterly execution; two landscapes by Durand, a classical composition and "The Wanderer's Home," an illustration of the poem by Mrs. Hemans; a Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.