Darley's Indian &
Western Art

www.focdarley.org

CLICK …. to go to a June, 2007 update:

“Emigrants …” used in Cabot, Vermont Municipal Building

WESTERN ART

Darley's fame basically began with his "western" art .. Indians, pioneers, etc. Two key drawings were about the wagon trains and hunting the grizzly bear.

TWO EXAMPLES FROM FENIMORE COOPER’S NOVELS OHIO SETTLERS (likely in “Harpers”)

ARTISTS OF THE AMERICAN WEST (AN EXHIBIT)

September 2 - October 5 2000: McLean County Museum of History 200 North Main Street Bloomington, IL 61701

"Artist Checklist" (for the collection):

"John J. Audubon, Albert Bierstadt, Karl Bodmer, George Catlin, F.O.C Darley ,Seth Eastman, Henry F. Farny, Paul Frenzeny and Jules Tavernier, Charles Bird, King James, Otto Lewis, Frederic Remington, Peter Rindisbacher ,John Mix Stanley, A.R. Waud, Rufus Zogbaum"

"These artists were the first people to really record who was in the West and what it really looked like," said Greg Koos, executive director of the McClean County Museum. "Their works have forever fixed in the American imagination what the West was and what it was about."

The majority of the works are roughly divided into two "periods" of West art: pre- and post-Civil War.

"The post-Civil War pieces are mostly illustrations and observations of the people and the land with romantic and triumphalist viewpoints, such as F.O.C. Darley's 1874 engraving Emigrants Crossing the Plains. …

Color examples of “Emigrants’ and ‘Lassoing a Bear” from PICTURESQUE AMERICA

Excellent site … tells the story of each of these and helps one understand why it is said that Darley helped Americans see their early country. Go to the site

BELOW ARE 2 OF DARLEY’S MOST FAMOUS, AND MOST USED, “WESTERN” PRINTS. HUNDREDS OF THE PRINTS WERE PRODUCED, AND TODAY, MANY ARE BEING REPRODUCED AND SOLD.

Re: ABOVE, “Emigrants…” AN UPDATED USE !!!

SEE THE STORY & PHOTO AT THE END OF THIS PAGE … click to go

OTHER “WESTERN” EXAMPLES:

An Indian Raid (likely from a book) An Indian foray in the West (“Harpers” Magazine, 1858)

A New Home, Who'll Follow? or, Glimpses of Western Life. . by Caroline Kirkland (1801-1864) Published under the pseudonym Mrs. Mary Clavers, an actual settler. New York: C. S. Francis, 1^st edition, 1839. Darley illustrated the fourth edition in 1855. SEE: GO THERE

A WESTERN (INDIAN) OIL BY DARLEY:

GO THERE

DID DARLEY ACTUALLY TRAVEL TO THE WEST (re: his western & Indian art)?

This is a question that has no CLEAR, DEFINATE answer. Below is some discussion around this:

QUESTION:

JIM SILVERMAN wrote:

   Hi Ray,
   Thanks for helping me sleuth the connection between Darley and Fairy
   Tales from the Gold Lands, published in San Francisco in 1868. I know
    Darley created a number of Western works but I haven't been able to
    learn if he traveled to the West. Can you answer that or direct me to
   a source that might?
       Best.
      Jim Silverman

OUR BEST THOUGHTS:

Hi Jim. We have read two sources who stated that (1) he did [[ SEE BELOW ]] and (2) he didn't [[ NY PUBLIC LIBRARY..Dr. Finlay ]] We believe that he did NOT visit the west.

The reason that we believe not is that there is NO other reference to that in the most SINGLE exhaustive source

that I have ... that's "...illustrated by Darley," done by the Del. Art Museum in 1978 for a major exhibit by the same

name. Also, Dr. Nancy Finlay's (Ph.D., New York Public Library, Print Section) 2002 exhibit catalogue, "Inventing

the American Past ..” makes the statement that Darley never visited the west.

Also, there are several sources that say that SOME of Darley's renderings are not true to the Indians'

tradition/dress/tents/housing that he depicted in several illustrations. These are minor, but if he was actually there,

they would be more likely accurate.

This is not unusual ... several other illustrators in the late 1800's, early 1900's had the same problem. Schoonover

was one.

Additionally, we have examined Mrs. Darley's scrap book in the Library of Congress and there also is no mention

of a western trip.

[ IF A READER HAS ADDED INPUT ON THIS SUBJECT, PLS. FORWARD IT: editor@focdarley.org ]

ONE SOURCE THAT SAYS DARLEY WENT TO THE WEST ….

[[ The Grove Dictionary of Art (LINK BELOW) ]] Bold added here by the editor

Darley, Felix Octavius Carr

(b Philadelphia, PA, 23 June 1822; d Claymont, DE, 27 March 1888). American illustrator and printmaker. After being exposed early to the Neo-classical style of John Flaxman, Darley began his career as an illustrator in Philadelphia in 1842. Following a sketching trip west of the Mississippi during the summer of that year, he produced outline drawings that were adapted into lithographs appearing in Scenes in Indian Life (1843). His early book illustrations were published in periodicals such as Democratic Review and Godey’s Magazine. Working in line drawing, lithography and wood- and steel-engraving, his first major success was his series of illustrations for John Frost’s Pictorial History of the United States (1844).

Re: Grove Dictionary of Art: http://www.artnet.com/library/02/0214/T021435.asp (free)

There are more than 45,000 articles in The Grove Dictionary of Art. To access the rest of this article, including the bibliography, subscribe to www.groveart.com. (subscribe to GDA)

HERE, THE NY TIMES USE 2 WELL KNOWN DARLEY BLACK/WHITES

TO ILLUSTRATE A 1999 ARTICLE RE: BUFFALOS

REGARDLESS OF VISIT OR NOT, DARLEY’S PROLIFIC WORK SHOWED EASTERN AMERICANS THE PROMISE AND THE CHALLENGE OF THE WEST, HELPING SATIFIFY THEIR CURIOSITY AND ENCOURAGING THE WESTWARD SPREAD OF THE COUNTRY.

update

UPDATE … JUNE 8, 2007

Darley’s “Emigrants Crossing the Plains” restored

and being used in the Cabot, Vermont Municipal Building

TO: EDITOR, “THE F.O.C. DARLEY WEB SITE

The Town of Cabot, Vermont, with the work of expert art restorers and

preservationists from the Vermont Museum & Gallery Alliance, just

finished restoring a painted theater "Grand Drape," based on Darley's

"Emigrants Crossing the Plains."

This large curtain now hangs on the third floor stage of the Willey Hall,

Cabot's municipal building.

It is highly unusual, if not unique; Western scenes are uncommon in Vermont.

Painted curtains were used as generic backdrops and scenery by troupes of traveling actors. A "Grand Drape" covers the stage before the play begins.

Bonnie S. Dannenberg

President, Cabot Historical Society

A BIG THANKS TO THE “CABOT FOLKS” FOR RESTORING THIS “DARLEY” WORK

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CABOT HISTORICAL SOCIETY … AND …

THE VERMONT MUSEUM & GALLERY ALLIANCE

(Pictured is Mr. Pete Isles, working on the drape)

= ==================================================== =

NOTE: The “quality” of these photos was greatly reduced to enable faster downloading on this site

DARLEY’S ORIGINAL PRINT, “EMIGRANTS CROSSING THE PLAINS,”

This print has been used in MANY books, articles, and magazines through the years;

The SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE used it in September , 1993

(p. 82) to illustrate a story on the role of oxen in the “winning of the West”

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… OR …

WESTERN ART

Darley's fame basically began with his "western" art .. Indians, pioneers, etc. Two key drawings were about the wagon trains and hunting the grizzly bear.

ARTISTS OF THE AMERICAN WEST (AN EXHIBIT)

A WESTERN (INDIAN) OIL BY DARLEY:

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