Show o L F 0 D A R L E Y The FIR FIRST OF ARTIST HIS TIME r By ELMO ELl SCOTT WATSON VATSON N JUNE 23 just 1822 1822 just years ago there ago there was born i in Philadelphia a boy who was destined to become not only the first artist of his time but also one of r the most versatile geniuses with the pencil and brush that this country has ever known Because of that versatility Americans of a later generation owe him hima a great debt of gratitude In the days when the art artof artof of photography was in its infancy he made for them tonal record of contemporary American life and scenes interest which are almost photographic in their ty to fact ix ac Octavius Carr Darley his name and three- three ers of a century ago the ture Darley on a are are are re was familiar to more ricans deans than that of any man But with the theng theng theng ng years both the artist the importance of his have been forgotten hey are known only tow to tow w iw who are interested in than just the obvious of of American history ey ley was the son of an Eng- Eng tor named John Darley ame to America soon after ase se of the Revolution The Ther r Darley intended to have havel i l seek a mercantile career t the age of fourteen the theras theras thetas ras tas placed in a business in Philadelphia While emas emas emas em- em as a clerk his talent for ig 19 ig became apparent and How flow had many ty laugh at the caricatures he drew of them and of e of these caricatures ate atI at- at I e the attention of the editor Saturday Museum who t them paying young Dar- Dar larger sum for a few fewes es that he had dashed off 1 l moments than he lie could y a weeks week's work as a clerk raged by his success the and had fixed in its mind a real concept of Coopers Cooper's noble red man Darley Darley Darley Dar Dar- ley also prepared a set of for Dickens' Dickens novels and caught the spirit of the English writers writer's immortal characters quite as successfully as any English artist could have done While carrying on this work of book illustration Darley was also engaged by a number of illustrated ed magazines and newspapers and within a short time the cred cred- line it-line of Drawings by F F. F O. O C C. C Darley or simply the name Darley on a picture was as familiar to the reading public of that time as some of the well- well known trademarks are to readers readers readers read read- ers of today Next he was employed employed employed em em- by the United States government government government gov gov- to make designs for government government government gov gov- bonds and national banknotes banknotes banknotes bank bank- notes and they were also used on a great variety of commercial paper If you will dig into that old trunk up in the attic some someday someday someday day and find old promissory notes receipts etc which are embellished with steel engravings engravings engravings engrav engrav- ings of Indians symbolical figures figures figures fig fig- ures such as Columbia and the like the chances are that you will be looking at pictures which were made from drawings by Felix FelL Octavius Carr Darley In addition to his outline drawings drawings drawings draw draw- ings Darley also produced a number of or other works some in i J A J Ji i 0 r I I 7 t Y l 1 Ichabod Cranes Crane's School ul artist determined to this his life work first commission was to ate ite a number of humorous for a Philadelphia publish- publish use Darley was a keen ob- ob of human life and his apt- apt n sketching humorous situ- situ and in telling jokes without made him popular with who began watching 5 drawings In this respect respects s is the first of a school of vely American pictorial which was to include nen as E. E W Kemble A. A B. B Oliver Herford and some modern cartoonists bod Crane Comes to Life Darley moved to New and two years later the can Art Union invited him strate Washington Irvings Irving's ous writings He prepared ts is of designs one depicting enes in Rip Van Winkle he tIe ie other The Legend of Hollow In the latter ca saw for far the first time like school teach- teach Crane come to told id ld America was delighted of oth- oth in Irvings Irving's stories uch to increase interest in work and although were only out- out they at once took popular fancy and Darleys Darley's fame 1856 1858 he made outline les IBS for Hawthorne's novel Scarlet Letter and in the year prepared similar illions il- il lions for another romance w England life Sylvester 3 I Margaret One interest- interest ct about these drawings is isie ie le undertook them on his responsibility since t the h e hers had not ordered them therefore they possess more characteristics of the auth- auth enius than almost any of his sketches But even though of Hawthorne's Judds Judd's books had not or- or or- or Darleys Darley's drawings they quickly accepted when he fitted them t Darley furnished m more o r e designs for the works Fenimore Cooper and as case of Ichabod Crane Crae lea ica ica saw V for the first time time ture ure of that romantic hero re color and some in black a and n d dwhite white generally employing what is known as the aquarelle method in his work He was one of the original members of the American Ameri Ameri- can Society of Painters in Water Vater WaterColors WaterColors Colors and a member of the Artists Artists Artists Art Art- Fund Society of New York In 1852 he became a member of the National Academy of Design A Pictorial Historian Of greatest interest to Americans Americans Americans Ameri Ameri- cans of a later generation are his pictures of historical scenes In these he covered the whole sweep of American history from Colonial Colonial Co Co- Colonial lonial days down to his own time One of his most famous pictures is that of the wedding procession as described in Longfellow's The liThe Courtship of Miles Standish Standish Standish Stand- Stand ish which appeared in 1859 Noteworthy too were his paintings paintings paintings paint paint- ings depicting scenes in the Rev Rev- They included such pictures pictures pictures pic pic- tures as The First Blow for Liberty which shows a group of patriots firing from behind a astone astone astone stone wall at the British redcoats redcoats redcoats red red- coats as they retreat from Lexington Lexington Lexington Lex Lex- ington Washington at the Battle Battle Battle Bat Bat- tle of Monmouth and his stirring stirring stirring stir stir- ring Wyoming Valley Massacre Massacre Mas Mas- r sacre showing an attack b by y Iroquois Indians on settlers in New York and Pennsylvania during during during dur dur- ing those dreadful days made memorable le by the romances of Harold Frederic Robert RobertW W. W Chambers Chambers Chambers Cham Cham- bers and Walter Valter D. D Edmonds Better known perhaps than any of these Revolutionary war pictures are tho those c which Darley made commemorating the hardships hardships hardships hard hard- ships and heroism of the emigrants emigrants emigrants emi emi- grants across the great plains of the West Vest Although idealized in some respects yet it is probable probable probable able that no other artist has come as near to depicting faithfully those days of the covered wagon wagon wagon wag wag- on as did Darley One of his pictures Emigrants Attacked by Indians was among the four ordered by Prince Napoleon when Darleys Darley's reputation had spread across the sea and it is often reproduced in books dealing with life on the western frontier as typifying that romantic era in our history The next period in history which engaged Darleys Darley's attention attention attention atten atten- tion was the Civil war and he made many pictures descriptive of its outstanding incidents Of QI If 4 A 4 Q Emigrants Attacked by Indians on the Western Vestern Plains The original of this painting was waG purchased by Louis Napoleon later Emperor Napoleon III of France cour course e b by this time photography had been developed to such a state of perfection that it was possible to record through the eye of the camera history while it was happening That is what Matthew r Brady the first news cameraman did from 1861 to 1865 But Brady could not be everywhere to photograph all the scenes worth preserving Fortunately Fortunately Fortunately Fortun Fortun- for posterity the pencil and brush of Felix Daley admirably supplemented Bradys Brady's camera in preserving for it a pictorial record record record rec rec- ord of that great conflict Civil War Var Pictures Most famous of all of Darleys Darley's Civil war pictures is his Shermans Shermans Shermans Sher mans man's March to the Sea steel engravings of which hung on the walls of so many American homes in the North of course until changing tastes in pictures- pictures the home relegated them to the attic Nearly as famous as this picture was Darleys Darley's Dahlgrens Dahlgrens Dahlgrens Dahl grens gren's Cavalry Charge at Fredericksburg Fredericksburg Fredericksburg Fred- Fred ericksburg which attracted universal universal universal uni uni- versal admiration when it was exhibited at the Paris exhibition in 1867 Darley was already well known abroad by that time for he had visited Europe in hi 1864 and added largely to his stock of pictures Many of these were published in book form in 1868 under the title of Sketches Abroad with Pen and Pencil His water color Street Scene in Rome was one of the outstanding canvases at atthe atthe atthe the Centennial exposition in Philadelphia Philadelphia Philadelphia Phil Phil- adelphia in 1876 which 1876 which proved for once at least that a prophet is not without honor in his own country 1 I 1 But for all the fame that he hewon hewon hewon won as a painter Darley remained remained remained re re- re- re a great illustrator to the last In 1886 he produced a notable notable notable not not- able series of drawings to illustrate illustrate illustrate illus illus- Shakespeare's plays Then two years later death stayed his hands He died in Claymont Del on March r 27 1888 Painting of scenes from common common common com com- mon life is of late appearance in America observes Frank Jewett Mather Jr in the chapter devoted to Genre Painting before before before be be- fore the Civil war in the The American Spirit in Art Yale University Pre Press s Chronicles of America The interest which our forefathers felt in themselves was not extended to their social and business relations they were too busy doing to observe themselves in action Even the early illustrators barring barring barring bar bar- ring a few political cartoonists avoided genre at a moment when England and France were leaving the fullest and ablest records of their everyday affairs The glo- glo ington Irvings Irving's Rip Van Winkle and Legend of Sleepy Hollow and after Judds Judd's Margaret are among the best things of the sort that the century produced anywhere Through all this period lithography was serving a useful sub artistic purpose Books on geology and botany needing color color color col col- col- col or were u usually thus illustrated so were scientific government reports reports reports re re- re- re ports and the books on the In In- But the results while often often often of of- ten excellent for their purpose do not concern the student of art For standard sets of American prose writers notably Irving and Cooper line-engraved line illustration seemed indispensable It was however generally limited to a frontispiece or title title- vignette Darley can be tragically dramatic dramatic dramatic dra dra- matic as in The Death of King Philip for the Artists' Artists Edition of Irvings Irving's Sketch Book a and n d dr r f rn 1 df r V car 7 11 iI i I again he was yas the only conceivable conceivable I able American illustrator of the broad humor and melodrama of Charles Dickens Though later I American illustrators have surpassed surpassed surpassed sur sur- passed him at certain points he still remains the most universal illustrator we have produced The slight but telling touch of antiquarianism is characteristic tic in Darley in historical illus illus- tra tion His broader humor is well exemplified in the vignette for Whittier's Cobbler Keezar published in New England Ballads Ballads' Ballads Ballads' Ballads Ballads' Bal Bal- lads' lads in 1870 Such a thing looks simple and even obvious b but u t tsuch such simplicity rests upon the most thorough preparation a s sparley's Darleys Darley's innumerable trial draw ings and sketchbook notes attest He was eclipsed in his later years by the new generation generation generation genera genera- tion of illustrators but in a larger sense he left no successors Great as an illustrator and lithographer lithographer lithographer lith lith- Darley had still another another another an an- other claim to distinction in II that he naturally turned his I r S i fl jv C S 1 1 lw y 1 1 y v r t tM i M The Dying Soldier The Soldier The Last Letter From Home ries of the style in America were not in painting at all but in hi the copious and always excellent illustration il illustration il- il of F. F O. O C. C Darley A Versatile Genius And elsewhere in the same volume vol ume are aie frequent references to this versatile genius as for example example example ex ex- ample For his albums of outlines after after after af af- af- af ter American authors the famous illustrator Felix O. O C. C Darley employed lithography very suc suc- ce s ully His plates after Wash Wash- f hand now and then to caricature We Ve find him in young Donald G. G Mitchells Mitchell's Lorgnette gently satirizing satirizing satirizing sat sat- New Yorks York's excessive lion- lion worship of the Hungarian refugees refugees refugees ref ref- ref ref- of the revolution of 1848 This is near the head of a long line of caricature dealing with the visiting or immigrant for for- eigner In due cour course e the negro the German the Irishman and the Jew were to receive similar attention from our caricaturists I Western Newspaper Union |