The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-09-19
AN INTERESTING CAREER.
History OF en- Artist Who Pointed
O Picture Th-oo II;los Long.
4 Pnnoramr Of tho Entire mississippi
River Drawn from Slsctr,,cs Made
Waite I:c Waa Travelling In
Canoe.


Waite I:c Waa Travelling In
~ Canoe.
John Banvard. the artist died the
other day in Watcrtown, S. d., of heart
failure. HIS career as MI artist, u trnv-
clcr and an Gdventurcr was unique and
interesting, says the New York Times
and the story of his life is full Of Incl
dents that go beyond the usual.
lie was born in New York about 1890
and his youthful days were spent in
study of drawing and painting, for
which he showed a decided taste at an
early age. When he was fifteen years
old his father died, after losing his
property, and the boy went to Louis
vile, where he worked for Il time rs
clerk in Il drug store. a year later he
had opened studio and established
himself as an artist. lie did not long
remain in Louisvillc, but after painting
several pieces he started out to earn his
living by exhibiting them, and he Wis
tied New Orleans, Natchcz, Cincinnati,
and other towns, going by boat, and
sometimes giving exhibitions on q flat
boat fitted up for the occasion.
lie made 4 scanty living and met
of his pictures, made about this time,
was u panorama OF Venice, which he
painted wholly from imagination, and
afterward exhibited with success
While on one of his river trips, Mr.
Banvard conceived the idea of painting
IL panorama of the entire Mississippi
river. II was his ambition to paint the
largest picture in the world. lie set
about it in 1910. Alone, in an open
sllitf, with no outfit except his rifle and
his drawing Instruments, lie travelled
thousands of miles. When his rifle
failed to bring him necessary food he
painted pictures and exhibited them to
make money enough TO buy food and re-
plenislr his materials.
For more than IL year he lived IN this
way, and when his preparatory draw
ings were dcae he erected building in
Louisville, where they were transferred
to canvas and first exhibited. The
artists ambition was realized The
painting was the largest ever made,
and, complete, i covered three miles
Of canvas. 1t WAS one of the wonders
of the day, after the people heard about
it, and was exhibited i'll many cities of
this country and abroad, attracting
much attention.
After a series of exhibitions In Eu-
rope the artist travelled extensively in
Asia and Africa and painted many pic
lures Which were exhibited. Among
these was Il pa noraInn called pictures
and Poetry of Palestine" and another
composed of three pictures, First Bat
tlc-Ficld of History" ''Sicgc of Jerusa-
lem--Destruction of the Temple" and
Ruins of Edom.'
During the war Mr.. Danvard pointed
ont to Gen. Fremont how Island No 10
could he passed by n canal and certain
bayous, and he made charts showing the
route. His suggestions were afterward
successfully followed. lie was pro
life writer and was the author of about
seventeen hundred poems, several hun
dred of which have been published in
magazines here and in Great britain.
lie also published ~ Description of
the Mississippi River" "pilgrinngc to
the Holy Land" "AmQsis; or, The Last
of tho Pharoahs," The Private Life
of Il King" and Tradition CT the Tenn
plc"-
Two of his dramas have been acted;
"Amasis," at the Boston thcatcr in
1861, and "Carrinia," at the Broadway
thcatcr in 1873. Onc of his paintings,
THE Orison," was the picture from
which the first chrome made in Amer
lea WIS taken. Nearly quarter Of
century ago Mr.. harvard established
his panorama il what was then
Woods museum on broadway, which
afterward became Days theatcr
Here his pictures were exhibited, and,
with his lectures, attracted considerable
attention.
Critics have said that Mr.. Banvartls
pictures were not great in artistic
merit. They wcrcF remarkable because
of their magnitude and the rapidity
with which he made them. When cx-
hibiting his panorama he accompanied
the pictures with n descriptive lecture,
which often was feature Of his enter
tainincnt