The Washington herald., 1909-03-28

The clash OF opinion over the o'Connor
design for the statue OF Barry, the Revo-
lutlonary naval hero and the resultant
excitement IN artistic circles has It's
parallel in the record OF battle royal
waged IN Congress in 1s2s when art was
the casus belli.
It had heen proposed that a large can
vas representing the Battle Of New Or
leans should be ordered for the rotunda
collection Of paintings, and Mr.. Aston.
an artist OF note, was mentioned as a at
person TO execute the design AS every
member had some pet theory OF art in It's
making, the disputes over the bill were
many. and the comments acrid-
Not only was the name Of Aston drawn
Into action. but that Of John Trumbull.
whose four pictures in the Capitol are
familiar to all. came IN for large share
Of comment. not all of It kindly.
Trumbun had been aid for Gen. Wash
lngton. and adjutant for Gen. Gates. serv-
Ing with credit all through the wars Of
the Revolutionary period. He had
natural gift for portraiture. and his
spare moments at the camp fire. all
through that time Of stress, were spent
in developing his art IN rough outlines OF
the distinguished faces about him.
AS soon as the need for his sword
was passed, Trumbull went abroad, and
studied In Paris. always in the hope that
he would be commissioned TO depict the
events and the actors with which he was
so familiar Just thirty years after the
battle OF Bunker Hill he received from
Congress the hoped-for commission, not
for one picture but for four.
The most enthusiastic sponsor OF
Trumbull was John Randolph. of Roa-
noke. who. writing IN praise OF a study
containing the figure OF Richard Lee.
commented on the natural pose Of the
hand folded gracefully over the mutt
lated fingers OF it's mate in a gesture
known 10 us ALL" But Randolph was
evidently rather tickle, for he later
dubbed the pictures he had praised
"shin-plaster arr" on account Of the
prevalence OF shorts and silk stockings.
Trumbull was present al the discussion
over the proposed Battle Of New Orleans
picture. and heard little good OF himself
and his pet works, and 10 relieve his
mind sent of about a 1.O00-word letter
10 his friend, Mr. Dwight. in New York,
describing the scene. Under date Of
January 13 1925 he writes in part:
Dear Sir: The newspapers viii have
shown you that in the memorable battle
Of the 9Th the mangled bodies OF all the
painters strewed the bloody field-Al-
ston, Morse, and myself all fell, but we
fell gloriously by the side Of memo
rable hero OF the day You will see that
7, in particular, was most barbarously
tomahawked and scalped by the unre-
lentlng hand OF the half-breed chief OF
Roanoke-and saddest of all TO say by
the faithless hand Of he who was once
my friend To speak seriously, IL was
my fate on that occasion 10 be selected
by Hon. John Randolph as the butt Of
his merciless sarcasms.
But when Mr.. Randolph, in his ex-
Ordium. assigns. as the cause Of his TAX
ing part, the Misrepresentation Of some
obscure publication in Philadelphia in
which il was enormously stated that he
Mr. RandOlph-had been partly instru-
mental IN procuring those wretched speci-
mems OF the state OF the fine arts in the
country it is evident to all that Mr.
Randolph's mind. as well as his body, is
in q state Of decay, his advocacy OF 1917
being we'll remembered. &c. ." In
the exchange OF complimentary terms
there seems little choice between that
master of invective, the half-breed
chief" John Randolph. and the artistic
warrior John TrumbUll.