the Civil War and

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., in association with Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut

Eleanor Jones Harvey

the Civil War and

the Civil War and

is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum with generous support from:

Anschutz FoundationLudmila and Conrad CafritzChristie’sSheila Duignan and Mike WilkinsTania and Tom EvansNorma Lee and Morton FungerDorothy Tapper GoldmanRaymond J. and Margaret Horowitz EndowmentMr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz

Foundation for the ArtsWolf Kahn and Emily Mason FoundationJoffa and Bill KerrThelma and Melvin LenkinHenry Luce FoundationPaula and Peter LunderMargery and Edgar MasinterBarbro and Bernard OsherWalter and Lucille Rubin FoundationPatricia Rubin and Ted SlavinHolly and Nick Ruffin

The C. F. Foundation in Atlanta supports the museum’s traveling exhibition program, Treasures to Go.

lenders to the exhibition

Amon Carter Museum of American ArtBirmingham Museum of ArtThe Century AssociationChrysler Museum of ArtThe Cleveland Museum of ArtCorcoran Gallery of ArtDallas Museum of ArtDetroit Institute of ArtsFine Arts Museums of San FranciscoThe Fralin Museum of Art at the

University of VirginiaFrank M. GrenJudith Filenbaum HernstadtJoslyn Art MuseumFred KeelerLos Angeles County Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of ArtMount Vernon Ladies’ AssociationThe Museum of the ConfederacyNational Gallery of ArtThe Nelson-Atkins Museum of ArtNew Britain Museum of American ArtThe New-York Historical SocietyNew York State Military MuseumNewark MuseumPhiladelphia Museum of ArtPhilbrook Museum of ArtPortland Museum of Art, MaineSmithsonian American Art MuseumThe Union League Club of New YorkVirginia Museum of Fine ArtsYale University Art Gallery

And several Anonymous Private Collectors

Foreword Elizabeth Broun and Thomas Campbell

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Landscapes and the Metaphorical War

The Art of Wartime Photography

The Human Face of War

Abolition and Emancipation

Aftermath

Notes

Bibliography

Catalogue of the Exhibition

Figure Illustrations

Index

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The Civil War redefined America in every way imaginable. Yet, while this war remains the most deeply researched event in our history, surprisingly little has been written about its impact on art and on the artists who experienced it firsthand. The works presented in The Civil War and American Art provide eloquent testimony to the ravages of the conflict on the land, the cities, and the people who endured it.

Dr. Eleanor Jones Harvey, the organizing curator of the exhibition and the author of this book, has delved into the intersection of American artists and the Civil War, particularly the transformation of landscape and genre painting during this profoundly turbulent period. While battlefield photographs offered visceral shock and destroyed Americans’ romantic views of the war as a gal-lant adventure, the paintings associated with the war are more allusive, often envisioning the future of a reunited nation that had been grievously divided. Dr. Harvey proposes deeper readings and significant new interpreta-tions of many familiar masterworks: sixty major paintings created between 1852 and 1877 and a selection of key photographs.

Our two museums are well positioned to under-take this reevaluation. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is housed in the former Patent Office Building—Washington’s largest public space at the time of the Civil War—where Union troops were billeted to defend the capital when war broke out. The building served as a hospital for the wounded in July 1861, after the first major land battle at Manassas, Virginia. President Lincoln held his inaugural ball in its ornate halls in March 1865, just six weeks before his tragic assassination. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is also linked to the Civil War. In 1864, members of the Union League Club—artists, writers, politicians, generals—and others from New York’s cultural elite organized a huge art display at the Metropolitan Fair to raise money for medical aid and relief for the Union army. Six years later, some of the gentlemen who had helped to shape the Metropolitan Fair became founding trustees of the Metropolitan Museum, thus creating a permanent home for the arts in the city. Together our two museums’ vast collections of American art testify to the endurance of the American spirit. That endurance lies at the heart of The Civil War and American Art.

directors’ Foreword

Thomas P. CampbellDirectorThe Metropolitan Museum of Art

Elizabeth Broun The Margaret and Terry Stent Director Smithsonian American Art Museum

The Smithsonian American Art Museum organized this exhibition under Dr. Harvey’s leadership, with early and sustained interest from Dr. H. Barbara Weinberg and her colleagues at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Each of our museums has contributed five major paintings to the exhibition, in each case precipitating the reinstallation of some of its galleries. We appreciate the mutually beneficial relationship that has developed between our institutions, which has ensured a beautiful and riveting experience for our visitors.

Projects such as this one require immense resourc-es to achieve fruition. The Smithsonian American Art Museum would like to recognize and thank the follow-ing individuals and foundations for their generous sup-port: The Anschutz Foundation, Denver; Ludmila and Conrad Cafritz; Christie’s, New York; Sheila Duignan and Mike Wilkins; Tania and Tom Evans; Norma Lee and Morton Funger; Dorothy Tapper Goldman; the Raymond J. and Margaret Horowitz Endowment; the Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts; the Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason Foundation; Joffa and Bill Kerr; Thelma and Melvin Lenkin; the

Henry Luce Foundation; Paula and Peter Lunder; Margery and Edgar Masinter; the Walter and Lucille Rubin Foundation; Patricia Rubin and Ted Slavin; and Holly and Nick Ruffin. We also thank the Smithsonian Institution for program support from the Grand Challenges grant.

At the Metropolitan Museum, we would like to recognize an anonymous foundation for its outstanding generosity and engagement in this project. We are also grateful for the support provided by the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund and the Enterprise Holdings Endowment.

An exhibition of this magnitude requires the generosity of numerous museums, organizations, and individuals willing to share their works for almost a year. The paintings and photographs included are among the finest made by American artists during this period. In many cases they are signature works in collections that rarely allow them to travel. We are deeply indebted to each lender for recognizing the significance of this proj-ect and profoundly grateful to each for agreeing to be a part of this landmark exhibition. Simply put, we could not have realized this exhibition without them.

The Civil War left its mark on every aspect of American life and culture. To address that impact in its entirety is an impossible task. Presently more than 75,000 books on the Civil War have been published; that averages more than one book per day since the war ended at Appomattox. My own thinking about this topic has been shaped over many years, especially from reading deeply and consulting with colleagues as I navigated the path leading to this book. Pioneering scholars in art history and Civil War history have left their mark on these pages, as have numerous recent works that have expanded my understanding of the nuances of both the war and the arts in America. Several books left a distinct impression. Drew Gilpin Faust’s ground-breaking study, This Republic of Suffering, convinced me that comprehending the reaction to death was the key to understanding the long-term impact of the war. Her conclusions gave me insight into Walt Whitman’s desire to tend wounded and dying soldiers in the Old Patent Office Building, now home to the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. Eric Dean’s Shook over Hell similarly peeled away the fog surrounding post-traumatic stress during the Civil War, reinforcing the point that no one escaped the war unscathed. Terrie Dopp Aamodt’s Righteous Armies, Holy Cause made clear how much religion in-flected contemporary understanding of the war in both the North and the South and reinforced how much of that rhetoric was grounded in landscape imagery.

I am indebted to numerous colleagues in American history and American art who helped me navigate the mountain of material on the Civil War. Edward Ayers

offered me sage advice so many years ago I doubt he re-members dispensing it, but his suggested readings gave me a solid foundation for this project. Adam Goodheart’s book, 1861, confirmed how personal stories often illumi-nated larger truths about the war. His work on the New York Times’ blog Disunion! encouraged all of us to consid-er what we think we know about the Civil War and how we talk about it today. Peter H. Wood’s stellar work Near Andersonville underscored the point that there is still more to learn and more to write about Winslow Homer. His incisive responses to some of my ideas sharpened my thinking and led me to historical sources not often applied to American art. Will Stapp proved to be an indefatigable source on Civil War photography and, more than that, a sharp critic whose pointed questions made me ask better ones. Frank Goodyear and Toby Jurovics read early drafts of the manuscript, and their insights on photography immeasurably strengthened my arguments. Randy Griffin’s book, Homer, Eakins, & Anshutz: The Search for American Identity in the Gilded Age, placed Homer in a postwar context far less sanguine than Twain’s ironic moniker might suggest. Beyond his superb scholarship, Randy has always been my most fervent advocate and ruthless critic. His close reading of the manuscript pushed me to ask more complicated questions and led me to conclusions that became the soul of this book. Each of these scholars, directly or indirectly, has shaped my perceptions of the Civil War and influenced my decisions about which artists and artworks to explore and what material to set aside.

My choice to focus on landscape painting owes much to Barbara Novak and Harold Holzer, each of

acknowledgments

aCknoWledgments xV

whom influenced my belief that landscape painting was the key to understanding the impact of the Civil War on American art. My approach to genre painting owes much to Steven Conn, who has written with great insight about the ways in which history painting came up short when faced with the Civil War. His article “Narrative Trauma: Why Are these Paintings So Bad?” confirmed my thinking about the inadequacies of the venerable genre to cope with the war and clarified why this project needed to look elsewhere for its subject. I chose not to address portraiture, as its conventions and appear-ance did not change as a result of the war, varying little in substance and symbolism from the work of earlier American artists. Kirk Savage did such a marvelous job considering Civil War-era sculpture in his book Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves that I found I had nothing to add. I leave for others the examination of latent and out-right war-related meaning in still life, where it is becom-ing more apparent that food carried political overtones in the manner in which it was grown and harvested, its point of origin, and its commercial path to the American table. I look forward to reading another generation of scholars’ work on American art and the Civil War, as there are still many areas to mine.

My debts are many, and I gratefully acknowledge them here. This book may have a sole author, but it took a small army of people to assist with its develop-ment and production. I owe a tremendous debt to my editor, Tiffany Farrell, who helped shape and clarify my ideas and has worked tirelessly to bring this manuscript into sharp focus. It is a much stronger book thanks to her efforts. I have benefited immensely from having Barbaranne Liakos as my curatorial assistant for the last three years. As a fellow scholar and able coordinator, she has juggled ideas, research, and exhibition logistics with equal facility and aplomb. Curatorial Assistant Jennifer Bauman provided essential help with early logistical support and critical research on literary figures of the period. Emma Stratton handled rights and reproductions with skill and good humor and a sharp eye for detail. Jessica Hawkins has designed an elegant book, making it a visual pleasure to navigate this material. I have had a number of talented interns who contributed to the research and ideas in this book, and it is with gratitude

that I thank Allison Dietz Hicks, Emily Guth, Catherine Homsey, Katherine Hughes, Gretchen Martin, Mary McMahon, Laura Groves Napolitano, Lauren Staub, Randi Stead, and Julia Trechsel.

Archivists, librarians, and researchers across the country assisted with research queries. Marisa Bourgoin at the Archives of American Art provided access to countless primary documents. Smithsonian librar-ians tracked down obscure references and provided superb research support, and I would like to thank Patricia Lynagh, Doug Litts, Anne C. Evenhaugen, and especially Mary Wassum for their unflagging ef-forts. Librarians and researchers elsewhere provided timely assistance, particularly Paul Carnahan, Vermont Historical Society; Lynda Claassen, Mandeville Special Collections Library, University of California San Diego; Teresa Roane, The Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, VA; and Autumn Simpson, research assis-tant, Valentine Richmond History Center, VA.

Several scholars read early versions of this manu-script, and their comments made my thinking measur-ably better and my prose significantly stronger. I am especially grateful to Lonnie Bunch, director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture; Frank Goodyear, assistant curator of photography at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery; Randy Griffin, professor of art history, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Tx; Toby Jurovics, chief curator, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE; Barbaranne Liakos, Smithsonian American Art Museum; Will Stapp, independent scholar; Peter H. Wood, professor of history emeritus, Duke University, Durham, NC; and my anony-mous peer reviewers. In addition, I would like to thank David C. Ward, historian at the National Portrait Gallery; Scott Winterrowd, curator of education, Southern Methodist University; and Adam Goodheart, director of the C. V. Starr Center for the American Experience, Washington College, Chestertown, MD. I have benefit-ed greatly from your help and your encouragement.

Many of my colleagues at lending institutions provided critical help in securing loans and providing information on their works of art. I would like to thank Becky Lawton, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Tx; Gail Andrews and Graham Boettcher, Birmingham

xVI the Civil War and ameriCan art

Museum of Art, AL; Terry Carbone, Brooklyn Museum; Jonathan Harding, Century Association, NY; Bill Hennessey, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA; Mark Cole, Cleveland Museum of Art, OH; Sarah Cash, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Bonnie Pitman, Olivier Meslay, and Sue Canterbury, Dallas Museum of Art, Tx; Ken Myers, Detroit Institute of Art, MI; Tim Burgard, the late John Buchanan, and Julian Cox, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA; Toby Jurovics and Sarah Burt, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE; Ilene Forte and Austen Bailey, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; H. Barbara Weinberg, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; Emily Dana Shapiro, George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate, Museum, and Gardens, Alexandria, VA; S. Waite Rawls III and Cathy Wright, The Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, VA; Franklin Kelly, Charles Brock, Sarah Fisher, Anne Halpern, Jay Krueger, and Doug LaChance, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Keith Davis, Margie Conrads, and April Watson, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO; Douglas Hyland, New Britain Museum of Art, CT; Mary Sue Sweeney Price and Holly Pyne Connor, The Newark Museum, NJ; Linda Ferber, Kimberly Orcutt, and Christina Charuhas, New-York Historical Society; Courtney Burns, New York State Military Museum, Saratoga Springs, NY; Mark Mitchell, Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA; James Peck, Philbrook Art Museum, Tulsa, OK; Tom Denenberg, Portland Museum of Art, ME; David K. Ray and Duncan Burns, Union League Club, NY; Bruce Boucher, Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville; Alex Nyerges and Sylvia Yount, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; and Jock Reynolds, Helen Cooper, and Keely Orgemann, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT.

Numerous art dealers were helpful in tracking down key works of art and making research materi-als available to me. I would like to thank Alex and Loie Acevedo, Alexander Gallery, NY; Joe Caldwell, Caldwell Gallery, Manlius, NY; John Driscoll and Lyle Dawson, Babcock Fine Arts, NY; Stuart Feld, M. P. Naud, and Eric Baumgartner, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, NY; Howard Godel and Katherine Wright, Godel and Company, NY; Steve Good, Steve Good

Inc., Denver, CO; Alfred C. Harrison Jr., North Point Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Rob Hicklin Jr. and Jane Harper Hicklin, Charleston Renaissance Gallery, SC; Frederick D. Hill, Collisart, NY; Allan and Colleen Kollar, A. J. Kollar Fine Art, Seattle, WA; Mary Lublin, Mary Lublin Fine Art, NY; James Maroney, Oliver Hill, VT; Craig Nunnos, The Sentry Post, Villanova, PA; Richard Rossello and Nicole Amoroso, Avery Galleries, Bryn Mawr, PA; Louis Salerno, Questroyal Fine Art, NY; and Paul Worman, Paul Worman Fine Art, NY.

So many individuals have provided enthusiastic support for this exhibition and book, among them colleagues at museums and the academy, private col-lectors, and independent scholars. I am grateful to Parker Agelasto; Nan Altmayer; Ed Ayers, University of Richmond, VA; P. J. Brownlee and Annelise Madsen, Terra Foundation, Chicago, IL; Ludmila and Conrad Cafritz; Gerald L. Carr; Lisa Darlington; John Davis, Smith College, Northampton, MA; Marie-Stephanie Delamaire; Kathleen Diffley, University of Iowa; Joseph Fogg; David and Linda Gray; Adam Greenhalgh; Randall Griffey, Mead Art Museum, Amherst, MA; Nina Gray, Seventh Regiment Armory, NY; Frank Gren; Bill and Abigail Gerdts; Bart Hacker and Margaret Vining, National Museum of American History, Washington, DC; Judith Filenbaum Hernstadt; Harmony Haskins and David Anderson, The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, SC; Fred Keeley; Lisa Koenigsberg; Thelma and Melvin Lenkin; Angela Mack, Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC; Kenneth Maddox, Newington-Cropsey Foundation, Hastings on Hudson, NY; Joyce Mandeville, T W Wood Gallery & Arts Center, Montpelier, VT; Leo Mazow, Penn State University; Maurie McInnis, University of Virginia; Charlotte Emans Moore; James McPherson; the late Merl J. Moore, Jr.; Emily Neff, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Tx; Burn Oberwager; Estill Curtis Pennington; Col. Mary L. Purdue, USAF; David Purvis; Bruce Robertson, University of California at Santa Barbara; William Keyse Rudolph, Milwaukee Art Museum, WI; Julia Sienkowitz; Craig L. Symonds; Mark Thistlethwaite, Texas Christian University; Evelyn Trebilcock and Valerie Balint, Olana State Historic Site, Hudson, NY; Jane Wald, Emily Dickinson Museum, Amherst, MA; James Warehime; Glenn G. Willumson,

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University of Florida; Robert Wilson, editor of the American Scholar; and Susan Powell Witt.

Support across the Smithsonian American Art Museum has been essential to the success of this endeavor. Director Betsy Broun made it possible for me to focus exclusively on this project for two years. Deputy Director Rachel Allen supervised the budget and with Head Registrar Melissa Kroning handled contract negotiations with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Marie Elena Amatangelo, former head of exhibi-tions, provided early logistical support. Jenni Lee, reg-istrar for this exhibition, has done an admirable job of tracking loans and securing indemnification for them. My curatorial colleagues George Gurney and Virginia Mecklenburg stepped up to take on my supervisory responsibilities while I was writing. Debbie Earle and Jean Lavery provided office support while I was im-mersed in writing. Theresa Slowik, publications chief, negotiated the arrangements with Yale University Press. Jo Ann Gillula, Laura Baptiste, and Nona Martin handled press queries, the marketing campaign, and public programs. Susannah Niepold and Sally Otis developed outstanding educational programs for local and distance learning audiences. Georgina Goodlander and Carlos Parada developed the podcast and the exhibition’s web presence. David Gleeson has designed a compelling installation, using light, color, and space to feature each work of art as an essential part of the viewer’s experience.

Taking this exhibition on tour turned out to be a con-siderable challenge, and I am grateful to all of the lenders who made it possible. We could not have accomplished this without the help of our colleagues at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in particular Dr. H. Barbara Weinberg, Alice Pratt Brown curator of American art, whose early and unwavering interest steered this exhibition to the Met. I am also grateful for the help of Harold Holzer, senior vice president of external affairs; Jennifer Russell, associate director for exhibitions; Jeff Rosenheim, curator in charge of photography; Nina Maruca, registrar; Barbara Bridgers, head of photo services; and Catherine Mackay and Sean Farrell in the American Wing.

Projects like this require immense resources. The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s development

staff did an outstanding job generating support for this exhibition. I would like to thank Catie Anchin, Michelle Atkins, Ross Randall, and Elaine Webster for all of their efforts. I am especially grateful to Ludmila and Conrad Cafritz and Thelma and Melvin Lenkin for providing critical support both for the early stages of research and again for this book, and to the Henry Luce Foundation, NY, for awarding this project a very generous grant. Support like this facilitates more than an exhibition and a book—it makes in-depth research and writing possible.

Finally, I could not have written this book or orga-nized this exhibition without the constant support of my family. My heartfelt thanks go to my husband Steve, our children, Caroline and Duncan, and my mother, Peggy Jones. All of them stood by me, offered support and advice, put up with long hours at the computer, and endured numerous conversations that I hijacked into a disquisition about the Civil War. They have been there and back again with me, and for that I am forever grateful.

Eleanor Jones HarveySmithsonian American Art MuseumNovember 2012