Author Hugh Howard to speak in Spencertown Saturday

 

EAST CHATHAM — George Washington’s image is ubiquitous, as is the mythos that surrounds America’s first president. In Hugh Howard’s newest book, “The Painter’s Chair, George Washington and the Making of American Art,” the author weaves together the life of Washington with those of the small group of men who created a new American art and were responsible for how the nation viewed its first leader.

In the process, Howard provides a new picture of both the artists and their subject.

Howard, who resides in East Chatham, is the author of a number of books on architecture, history and architectural history. He said that making the leap to writing about painting wasn’t as hard as it might seem.

“The line between art and architecture isn’t as clear as people believe,” he said, pointing out that architecture deals with the same issues as art, including space and color.

 

His last book, “Dr. Kimball and Mr. Jefferson: Rediscovering the Founding Fathers of American Architecture,” dealt with Thomas Jefferson and his role in establishing American architecture. After it was finished, his editor asked him what he was thinking about for his next project. Howard said that in the ensuing conversation he spoke about the first truly American artists, including Gilbert Stuart, Charles Willson Peale and John Singleton Copley. He said they were all tied together by the fact that they had painted Washington’s portrait.

“There’s your book,” Howard recalled his editor telling him.

Howard said that over the course of his writing career he had been steadily moving toward writing about “straight history” and this newest book continues in that direction.

“It’s tying a number of pieces together,” he said.

While researching the book, he said that he came to understand that Washington, in contrast to his public persona, was a somewhat shy and retiring man who would have been satisfied with merely tending his farm.

“He would have been happy to stay at Mount Vernon,” he said. “If you would have asked him what he did. He would tell you he was a farmer.”

Washington obviously wasn’t just a farmer, and in Howard’s book we see the arc of his life through his connection with the painters whom he sat for.

In “The Painter’s Chair” Howard describes the first time Washington sat for a portrait — in 1772. Peale, painting as accurately as possible, included in his portrait the fact that his sitter was missing a button from his waistcoat.

According to Howard, this detail shows how only three years before Washington would be at the head of an army, fighting for eight grueling years, he was a slightly out of shape farmer.

It’s the amalgamation of details, said the author, that allows us “to try and understand a complex ... American figure.”

“All the details figure in,” he said.

The book took about two years to write, but, said Howard, the background was based on his 20 years of experience delving into the culture of the 18th and early-19th centuries.

Howard was familiar with the beginnings of American culture, but soon learned that one man was almost single-handedly responsible for bringing European high art to the colonies. That man was John Smibert.

Smibert’s name isn’t well-known today, said the author, but he played an important part in foundations of American art.

Howard said Smibert was responsible for the first art exhibition and art museum in the country and inspired a number of other painters through his art collection.

But, added the author, his painting skills were not the best.

“He wasn’t a wonderful painter,” admitted Howard.

A number of artists who would later paint Washington’s portrait passed through Smibert’s “Painting Room,” including Copley and Peale.

Many of these early American artists knew each other, which according to Howard, wasn’t surprising.

He said that 18th century America may have been large geographically, but was quite small from a societal standpoint, referring to it as “the country house that was American culture.”

Upper class people from a number of cities were more likely to know each other than their own poorer neighbors, he said.

“There were only a limited number of educated ... wealthy people,” he said. “They were a small percentage of the population.”

The expatriate painter Benjamin West, who was born in Pennsylvania but made a name for himself in London, also linked these artists together since a number of them either studied under him or worked in his studio.

According to Howard, these artists’ output was different from European art because of the subject matter — George Washington and American independence — and to a lesser degree their technique.

He said of all these artists, Gilbert Stuart stood out.

The author called him a singular artist that was arguably the best painter of his generation.

“He was one of a kind,” said Howard.

Howard said that he feels honored to have been able to get to know the individuals who created “The Painter’s Chair.”

The author is now working on a book about President James Madison and the War of 1812.

He will be speaking about “The Painter’s Chair” Saturday as part of the Columbia County Historical Society’s Distinguished Author Series at the Spencertown Academy. It begins at 4 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

The lecture will be followed by a reception in the Spencertown Academy Gallery. For $35 you can meet the author, sip a cocktail and snack on hors d’oeuvres. Reservations are required.

Please call the society at 518-758-9265 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to reserve a spot.

To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx please call 518-828-1616, ext. 2267, or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .