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“The
Panorama of Pilgrim's Progress” An Important Discovery at the Saco Museum Saco, Maine (... in 1996) http://w F.O.C. DARLEY was one of the artists of
the 850-foot rolling panorama, “The Panorama of Pilgrim's Progress” completed
in 1848, and now housed at Saco (Maine) Museum. This work was one of Felix Darley’s
earliest contributions to a MAJOR work of art. It was done at about the same
time that he did the LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, and RIP VAN WINKLE for the
American Art Union (1849), which truly launched his ~ 46 year career as
America’s first illustrator of note, or as many say and believe, his being
the “Father of American Illustration.”
(Remember, Howard Pyle, living 7 miles from Claymont, was only 7 years
old when Darley moved to Claymont in 1859.) It was probably Darley’s association with
the NATIONAL ACADEMY OF DESIGN (New York) that assisted in his selection as
an artist for this important work; this work was then instrumental in his
elected to full membership in the Academy. This panorama was first exhibited in
1850, then subsequently in several other cities. “Lost” for 99 years, it was
rediscovered in storage at the Saco Museum in 1996. Again, a key Darley contribution to American literary and art history
is documented on this web site: GO TO A PANORAMA SLIDE
SHOW GO TO A "MONTCLAIR
MUSUEM" (NJ) DETAILED ARTICLE PLEASE LINK AND READ THE WHOLE
STORY. (A further summary follows) Ray Hester, March, 2005, Webmaster for www.focdarley.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOME KEY QUOTES
FROM THE SITE ARE: “According to
the catalogue, the panorama was conceived in the winter of 1848. Dr. Kevin
Avery, in his dissertation on panoramas, has interpreted this to mean that
the whole panorama is kind of an homage to Thomas Cole ... the
panorama of Pilgrim's Progress was hailed as a masterpiece for its treatment
of a popular literary subject and for its artistically composed figural
groupings. Although hundreds of moving panoramas were painted, only a handful
have survived to document this rare art form. ... The
panorama is painted in distemper on two giant rolls of cotton sheeting, eight
feet tall and a total of about 850 feet in length. There are only
about sixteen moving panoramas that have survived to the present. None of
these can match the artistic ambitiousness or historical importance of
Pilgrim's Progress . As a link between the world of formal academic painting
and the world of popular entertainment, and as a document of lost works like
Jasper Cropsey's "Land of Beulah," the panorama of Pilgrim's
Progress fills a significant void in the history of American art. The principle
artists, Edward H. May, Joseph Kyle, and Jacob Dallas, were all associates of
the National Academy of Design, and May was elevated to full member in 1876.
Daniel Huntington and Frederick Edwin Church were both full members of the
Academy, and Jasper Cropsey, F. O. C. Darley, and Paul Duggan were elected as
members soon after the debut of the Pilgrim's Progress . ============================= |
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