This work also grew out of the Preservation Through Art show
in Charleston, SC where forty artists interpreted the same sites around the Charleston that were originally depicted in The Land We Live In – Charleston and Its
Suburbs, published in 1873.
This pamphlet became part of a series celebrating
picturesque places across America that were purchased in installments and then
bound together into a large leather binding. The series helped prop up spirits
and encouraged a sense of nationalism after the Civil War. The Charleston text
was happy and upbeat with gorgeous images. It was a great task to send writers
and artists across the country but especially into the South during
reconstruction. They were glowing in their praise of the people and the scenery,
yet it all started to sound a bit off without reference to the Civil War.
Ture to verbiage of the time period, the writer Oliver B.
Bunce, found Charleston to be a graciously hospitable place and home to statesmen
and men of letters. And he hoped Charleston could “attain prosperity under
the new dispensation as brilliant as that they enjoyed un the old… (and)
renew the social triumphs of the brilliant past.” This propaganda was read by millions of people across the country and in Europe.
One of the etchings in the Charleston edition included a
Black woman sitting under a tree with children beside her. I found her
intriguing and wanted to depict her in a variety of ways. An oil painting of the
scene is currently on view at the Florence Art Museum for their first Eastern
Carolina Contemporary Art show. For this version I wanted to present her as the
gracious host the author boasted about and surround her with his words.
The text has been modified a bit. “The road
from Charleston emerges into wilderness canopied by pines, and oaks, and
magnolias with rich effect. The covering of boughs shelters a ‘sweet-tater’
woman who dispenses to hunger wayfarers of African hue the edible potato of the
southhis work also grew out of the Preservation Through Art show in Charleston, SC. Forty artists interpreted sites around the Charleston area that were orinigally depicted in The Land We Live In – Charleston and Its Suburbs, published in 1873.
This pamphlet became part of a series celebrating picturesque places across America. It helped prop up moral and share a sense of nationalism after the Civil War. The Charleston text was happy and upbeat with gorgeous images. It was a great task to send writers and artists across the country but especially into the South during reconstruction. They were glowing in their praise of the people and the scenery yet it all started to sound a bit off without reference to the Civil War.
Ture to veriage of the time period, the writer Oliver B. Bunce, found Charelston to be a graciously hospitable place and home to statesment and men of letters. And he hoped Charleston could “attain a presperity under the new dispensation as brilliant as that they enjoyed un the old… (and) renew the social triumphs of the billiant past.”
One of the etchings in the Charleston edition included a Black woman sitting under a tree with children beside her. I found her intriguing and wanted to show her in a variety of ways. An oil painting of the scene is currently on view at the Florence Art Museum for their first Eastern Carolina Contemporary Art show. For this version I wanted to present her as the gracious host the author boasted about and surround her with his words.
The text has been modified a bit. The artist and author were invited to one of the plantations along the Ashley River and he describes the trip. “The road from Charleston emerges into wilderness canopied by pines, and oaks, and magnolias with rich effect. The covering of boughs shelters a ‘sweet-tater’ woman who dispenses to hunger wayfarers of African hue the edible potato of the south.”
