Hosted the event. It is a little over one hour. We are we are delighted divided to have paul saiti with us. The author of of arms and artists, he is the author of several books and essays on american artist. He has cocurated exhibitions at the metropolitan museum of art and the museum of fine arts in boston. He is the recipient of the National Endowment for artists. He is a twotime senior fellow at the met. He has spoken internationally on the intersection of american art and history. With that, i would like to welcome paul to the lectern. [laughter] thank you very much. It is a pleasure to be here this evening. Good evening to you. I want to thank my hosts here at the tavern. And i want to thank my publisher, for publishing this book. Artists. D this is the book here. It is a hybrid book in the sense that it cap attempts to do a number of things at the same time. It is meant to be read by anybody. Anyone interested in 18thcentury america, the founding, or the revolution. I think you would find many things in here that would be a revelation to you. This was an aspect of the era that hadnt been previously treated. At the same time i had been intending to appeal to professional historians, who might learn a few things from this. Certainly my colleagues in art history might learn a lot from the book as well. I like to think of this is my effort to execute a triple steel. I am out ater that all three bases, but i would be happy with a double or even single still here. Steel, however, was by the cleveland indians. [laughter] this is a book about five artists. Equally, it is a book about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and john adams. John adams and john simpleton copley, the two families, they became the best of friends. John trumbull lived with Thomas Jefferson in paris at the American Embassy in paris. He was privy to the most intimate aspects of jeffersons life. For a while he became a go s wild in jefferson romantic pursuit of maria causeway, a married artist in paris at the time. Trumbull was the one who delivered letters between them, showing tremendous discretion. Utterly wrapped up in the events of the revolution, Charles Wilson feel far and was in a Militia Company from philadelphia on the banks of the delaware with washington, with his musket and his painting kit. John trumbull was the son of the governor of connecticut. Distancetched from a the firebombing and burning of charlestown at the battle of bunker hill. He became washingtons aidedecamp. He was friends with all that these people. So, its all of those stories woven together within the book. That was the fun of really writing it. Book about, you are wondering . Im going to mention four principles or Building Blocks of this book. , if you go the book through it, of arms and artists, from front to back, you are never going to hear me say here is Building Block number two. It is all kind of buried in there. But this is what was on my mind when i was researching and writing the book. The first thing is kind of the ivious thing, which was that proposed that works of art were essential to the founding of the United States. Thats actually quite a bold statement. I will explain why i think they are utterly quite important. And thats a big one. I will give you a couple of examples. For starters, lets go to Independence Hall. Known them it known then as the statehouse. The commonwealth of pennsylvania commissioned the artist, charles sorry feel peel to paint a picture for Independence Hall, for the state of pennsylvania, in 1779. Here, in fact, is his picture, which is an eight foot tall painting a big, impressive painting that shows George Washington after the battle of princeton, which was fought early in 1777, not long after a few days after the passage of the delaware river, the crossing of the delaware. This is what the state of pennsylvania this was the commission for the work of art. Im in the bad position here to read it, but i think i have a copy of it. The wisest, freest, rapist nations in the most virtuous times endeavor to remember in memory those who have rendered their country distinguished services by preserving their resemblances in statues and paintings and they wish to put the washington portrait in the Council Chamber not only as a mark of Great Respect to him, but the contemplation of it may to private honor. There are a couple of things about that that are quite remarkable. The freest, wisest, and bravest nation, such as the brandnew, freshly minted United States, now wishing to follow in the footsteps of all great nations before it, feeling an obligation to commemorate and have portraits painted of important washington. Such as so, thats rather remarkable. The second thing thats important about it is the contemplation of the picture may excite others to tread in the same glorious steps. That is that it will inspire emulation. Just one look. Just seeing what washington, a man of wealth and standing, was willing to do, to sacrifice, to do whatever was necessary, that this will inspire others to join the war effort. When the picture was painted, the war was on. Maybe it will stimulate others to follow as well. Works of art as inspiring, as motivation. It was an important picture that regard. Flash forward two years. To lets Flash Forward september 9, 1781. The british are losing at yorktown. There is no future. There is no hope for the british. Surrender is imminent. Everybody understands that the surrender at yorktown is essentially the end of the war. Everybody knows that they know this in london perfectly well, too. September 9, a group of loyalists broke into Independence Hall and slashed the picture with a knife. They cut, they shredded the head, the face. That is it had so much symbolic importance as to inspired to face men of an official image. Maybe they werent going to be able to kill washington himself, but they could at least wipe that smile off of his face. They could at least slash the values that it represented in the picture. They could turn something attractive like this into something repulsive. Thatorks of art were incendiary at this time. And this had happened before. 1750 nine, during some of the protests before the revolution, stand back and townsend acts, the radical activists went into and theyg in cambridge walked up to John Singleton copleys portrait of the british governor of massachusetts and they cut the heart area out of the portrait, leaving a hole. Copley was stunned by this. He comes in and is being called upon to repair it. Boston newspapers at the time say great as an artist as he might eat, it would be impossible for him to restore a heart to the heartless governor. Arnhart destroying a work of a political statement. Worse, the most famous, which is like what, a stones throw away from here . The summer of 1776, washington is marching through here and heading uptown. The british have invaded. The soldiers are demoralized, camped near where city all is today. Washington is delivered a copy of the declaration of independence. He has it read to the troops. , theyhat moment than spontaneously, not by order, but they spontaneously come down here to Bowling Green and they lash ropes around huge equestrian statues of george the third. They drag it down to the ground. They drag it through the streets. Leadhen they melt down the. It was lead covered in gold. They melt it down to make musket balls so that they can kill the british. Again, a work of art, thats what it was. A work of art. The political statements that were made around it. Works of art matter. They are statements of political belief at a time when statements needed to be made and when statements were made. Ok, but lets go back to the dispatch in the painting here for a second. There was another painting originally intended to hang in the statehouse, in Independence Hall, before the revolution began. It never quite made it. But if you went to any of the colonial capitals of america, you would find one of the ofless numbers of copies this portrait hanging in the colonial capital. You would see, what was intended for Independence Hall, was the picture you see on the equestrianh is the equestrian coronation portrait of king george the third. That is what was intended for Independence Hall. What you are looking for on the left is what gets home. You see the similarities between the two pictures. I see the kind of pose, weighed heavily on legs, pretty much off of the other. Granted, the light legs are between the two men, tossing the body to one side. Thebody is buttressed by sitters left arm, which is resting either on a barrel of a canon or on a table. And then the right arm is up on the hip, caulking the elbow upward in a pose that would be called akimbo. They are remarkably similar in that regard. Why is that . Charles wilson peel studied art in london in the 1760s, before the war. Have seen that this one in particular, but the artist alan ramsey, they were making these all the time in the studio. So, that is the point of similarity. Hasuld say that peel transformed this into a revolutionary portrait. Because washington is so different from george roman three george the third. Find him to be approachable george the third, you dont ever look george the third in the eye. So, he can be looked at, but he doesnt make eye contact. George washington . I to i, facetoface. Hes approachable, hes understated. I like to use the word benevolent. A little bit awkward. Very direct. Confident and calm after a brutal battle. The battle of princeton was awful. Early january. N the fields were covered with ice. There were many injured, many killed. There are stories about how the blood froze on the ice. What you saw was a red field. Of course, you dont see that in this picture. I will come back to the reasons for that and a moment. So, hes fainted this picture with the idea that hes going to more or less say that this is a new day in the history of north america and he has condemned the new order of rule condensed the new order of rule into this picture. The first great public portrait in america, in the United States , full of the values and principles of the new republic. Theington versus george third, a clearcut difference between the men. The difference on the left, between america and britain, the difference between a republic and a monarchy. The difference between today and yesterday. So, there it all is in a quick look. Anybody looking at this, 1779 or afterward, would immediately grasp the import of it all. And thats the revolutionary aspect. Ok, second, locked in the arms of artists. The United States desperately needed images of things like this. ,ot just by Charles Wilson peel but by all of these artists. This was a complicated moment during and after the revolution, transformative, compelling, captivating. Confusing. Frightening. Incomprehensible, not being able to understand whats happening, while its happening, or what it is going to lead to. Its inchoate. But certain things were clear. British rule is over. Images, british rituals, british kings, british governors, all of british offensivere instantly and completely obsolete. So, goodbye to all of that. Now what was required were american images, american rituals, american heroes, American History even though the history is 15 minutes long. And especially in a new country that is not united, that is to states with local identities, new yorkers spotted themselves first and foremost as new yorkers, not as a citizen of the United States, whatever that is. With south carolinians, georgians, anybody. You name it, their identities are local. But now they are being asked to become citizens of a greater entity. And how do they how are they persuaded by that . Persuaded of a new National Identity for themselves . Would faceask that any kind of what i tell my students, any kind of a microwave nation microwave like well, you know, you pop it in, you press a few buttons, you hit declaration of independence, you hit warfare and so on constitution, you pop it out and here it is, but what is it, exactly . How do people come to understand . How do they find Common Ground amongst themselves across thousands of miles of atlantic coastline . This is where the artist come in. In short order, Charles Wilson sure, exactly. Some are between 17 and 24 of these fulllength portraits of washington. They appear in state capitals now. One of them is sent to Thomas Jefferson in paris to hang in the American Embassy. Another copy is sent to king louis the 16th france. The french are writing the checks for the american revolution. They have sent soldiers, the navy, they are writing checks. You imagine this picture showing up in front of louis this louis the 16th as if to say things are going very well, as you can see here. We are confident, calm, not a problem. More checks. Stuart paints washington over there on the right more than 100 times over the course of 30 years. , the largest copy, his pictures i will tell you more about this in a minute, they go on and on and appear everywhere. In other words, these works of art becomes become objects of national faith. Belief in them, belief and the people in this case washington is the glue of the nation. But in order to understand that in south carolina, in order to understand that in new hampshire, we have got to see something. Not in person. But something has to occur. Of therd Building Block artists, is and that im thinking that these are, stillt were and are, to america, but the iliad aey it a knee and neid word to the greeks and romans were to the greeks and romans. In other words, these are the foundational stories of the United States told over and over again, seen over and over again, full of heroes. The difference being is that you can never be sure, in reading mythology, homer, hearing about scandinavian mythology, whether any of it was remotely true or if any of the characters ever actually existed. But in the United States, they did. They were flesh and blood. The events actually occurred. There were accounts of it all. There was something palpable about the foundational story that we experienced a back then and that we still rely upon today. So, if i were asking folks to conjure up an image, go ahead, what did it look like in Independence Hall in the summer of 1776 . Upt likely you would conjure John Trumbulls painting of the declaration of independence, which you see here on the screen. This is the version that yell. The University Art gallery. Its a gigantic and colossal version in the rotunda of the capital. There it is. Ok . Where if the battle of bunker hill in the summer of 1775, what does that look like . Well, heres the painting of bunker hill that he painted 10 years after the event. Well, that gets about as close to it as we can possibly get. And then if we want to think about what washington looked like when he was president , or what it looks like this is his resignation in the statehouse in 1783 or what washington looked like when he was president of the United States, we might want to rely on Gilbert Stuarts portrait of washington taken from life when he was president of the United States. Great. So, they sort of directly connect us back to the nations origin. That has been their power ever since. Stage for thethe American Republic for 240 years. You are ine the u. S. Capitol building. This is the rotunda. You are under the great dome of the rotunda of the capital. You are looking at this is june of 2004. The casket bearing the body of president Ronald Reagan has been their id. Carried from california to washington. Ofre has been a procession pennsylvania avenue. At the bottom of the steps of the capitol the casket is picked up by a military honor guard. The casket was carried up the steps of the capitol. Military band is playing the battle hymn of the republic. The casket is carried inside of the dome. You cant see it here, its just under that doorway. It is brought into the dome of placed on thed is catapult that once held the body of abraham lincoln. Behind John Trumbulls for , itures of the revolution sets the stage for this. To thennect 2004 back origins of the nation. The symbolism was intense. And it was meant to be intense. Who are these people . This is the entire United States congress that has come out. So, there it is. Its like the summation of everything in one place. This is not a church. But it is kind of a church. This is where the sacred images, the sacred moments of the past are laid out there. Into a catholic church, you will find those pieces. Stations of the cross, stations of the revolution, Something Like that, that are bringing the back wall. The declaration of independence, the surrender at saratoga, yorktown, washingtons resignation. There it is. I could go on, but im not. I will say one more thing about it. To the North Carolina house of representatives. This is the chamber that served for the house until there got to be too many representatives and they had to build Something Else , but this is the chamber that existed through most of the 19th century and into the early 20th century. Desks of the congressman her