A Case of Mistaken Identity Revisited

Since my visit to Montana for a National Parks Service illustration project nearly two years ago, I'm afraid I've neglected this blog. I've been terribly busy with various illustrating, writing, and other projects. But, like Mole in the chapter, "Dulce Domum," in Kenneth Grahame's classic Wind in the Willows, I was called irresistibly back today, though in my case because of an email. 

In 2015, I posted an essay about a portrait identified at various sites online as María Ursula de Veramendi, wife of Alamo legend James "Jim" Bowie. http://davidwrickman.blogspot.com/2015/04/a-case-of-mistaken-identity.html?m=1.

I was surprised that the evidence I presented against this being a portrait of Mrs. Bowie, which seemed obvious to me, was not accepted by some who continued to insist that this was her genuine likeness simply because it was said by a descendant to have been her. My evidence included the subject's style of hair and clothing - more typical of the 1840s than the early 1830s (María de Veramendi died in 1833), and the fact that Mrs. Bowie seems never to have left Texas prior to her death at the age of 21, and yet there was no known portrait artist of this level of skill working in Texas at this time. Nevertheless, I let the matter drop because, frankly, I had other things to do. 

Recently, though, I was contacted by a descendant of James Bowie's brother, Rezin, who sent me scans of two portraits said to be of his daughters, Martha and Mathilda. They are from Louisiana Portraits, a 1975 publication of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America in the State of Louisiana. I was surprised to see the alleged portrait of María de Veramendi identified as that of Martha Bowie, Rezin's elder daughter. However, it also states that Martha was born in 1791, which means that she would have been in her fifties if she sat for this portrait in the 1840s. So, clearly, there is still some confusion over just who this woman was. 

In my blog posting, I suggested that rather than Mrs. Bowie (María de Veramendi), this might be a portrait of Rezin's younger daughter, Matilda or Mathilda, who was born in 1816. That would have meant she was still in her twenties in the early 1840s. This publication of the Colonial Dames has another portrait that they believe is Mathilda, and state her year of birth as 1818. However, she is dressed in the fashions of the late 1840s or perhaps the early 1850s, which would have meant that Mathilda was in her thirties when she sat for it, and this lady looks younger to me.

So, it remains a mystery. As I see it, the Bowie family traditions are mistaken about just who these two young women were, based on the fashions worn by the sitters. But clearly (at least to me) neither of them is María Ursula de Veramendi, wife of the legendary Jim Bowie. 

Going to Montan' for to Throw the Hoolihan

 Photograph of unknown cowboy and cattle herd, 1902. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_drives_in_the_United_States#/media/File:Cowboy1902.jpg]

I ride an old paint

I lead an old Dan

I'm goin' to Montan'

For to throw the hoolihan

The Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, photo courtesy of the Grant-Kohrs Ranch Foundation. [http://www.gkrf.org/]

Actually, the lyrics to this old cowboy song are partly true, for tomorrow I'm going to Montana, but not to "throw the hoolihan" - by the way, no one knows what that means. Nor will there be any horse riding, at least that I know of. But I'll be gone for two weeks and hope to publish updates from the road.

This is not my first rodeo, as the saying goes. I've illustrated often for the National Park Service.

The excuse for this trip is that the Grant-Kohrs National Historic Site needs some illustrations and that's where I come in. I'll spend three days touring the site with members of the exhibits company I'm subcontracting to and NPS staff. Then I'll come home and create nine illustrations for interpretive signs around the park. https://www.nps.gov/grko/index.htm

Ironically, I started my career as an illustrator with this book for Dover Publications back in 1985. It's still in print. http://store.doverpublications.com/0486250016.html

And here I must thank my dear wife who, when I told her I wasn't going to bid on the project because I didn't have anything current in my portfolio showing cowboys, said "Just send them something." So this is what I sent, and I got the job. Thanks Sweetie.

Another image from my Cowboys of the Old West coloring book. As always, I find the real thing much more interesting than the legend. It's estimated that at least one in four of all cowboys in the classic trail driving days following the Civil War 

were either African-American or Hispanic-American.

Oh, the most authentic rendition of "I Ride an Old Paint," that I could find on YouTube was by Woodie Guthrie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcHYOlGbe7Y

But this one by Tim O'Brien and the Two Oceans Trio is the most stirring, even if he does sing it with an Ozark twang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG5Cb1GjV7E

As Much About the Present as the Past

A.

Someone once made a comment about historical films being as much about the present as the past. This is certainly true of two Russian military epics made during World War II that I found today on YouTube.

B.

The first is "Suvorov," a biography of the astounding Alexander Suvorov (ca. 1730 - 1800). The film dates from 1940, and I suspect it was not only meant as an ode to a spectacularly brilliant Russian general, but also as a reminder to Russians of their fighting spirit, and to Europe (Suvorov crossed the Alps), that it might be wise not to attack Russia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wCH7C8xY4Y

C.

D.

The second, "Kutuzov," was also about a victorious Russian general and his army, this time Mikhail Kutuzov (1745-1813), who fought Napoleon. 

E.

F.

Since it was made in 1943, one is tempted to see the film as not only a reminder of Russia's past military glory, but to reassure the nation that the Germans, whom the Soviet Union was still in the process of pushing back to Berlin, would meet a fate similar to Napoleon's. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIzaLk0gmxc

G.

Both films are remarkable for their attempts to represent authentically the military uniforms, equipment, and tactics of their day. For example, this is the first time I've seen the Potempkin uniforms represented in film. 

H.

The Soviet government was also generous in loaning authentic locations, such as palaces, in which to film, and lots, and lots of soldiers and horses. All of which is remarkable when you realize that World War II was in full swing by the time Kutuzov was filmed.

I.

Lastly, one sees stylistic similarities between these earlier films and Sergei Bondarchuk's handling of battle scenes, especially in his 1968 "War and Peace." No doubt Bondarchuk was quite familiar with both of these amazing films.

J.

I should note that both films are in Russian, with neither dubbing nor subtitles. But if you know the history even slightly (or look it up online) they are easy to follow and well worth a look.

K.

Images:

A. Suvorov, 1940, with Nikolai Chrekasov-Sergeyev in the title role. 

B. This 1799 portrait of Alexander Suvorov by Joseph Kreutzinger, shows the remarkable physical resemblance between the actor and his subject. [Wikimedia Commons]

C. Russian Troops under Suvorov Crossing the Alps in 1799 by Vasily Surikov, 1899 [Wikimedia Commons]

D. Perhaps influenced by the film, this 1941 Russian poster links General Suvorov with the Russian Army of World War II.

E. Kutuzov, 1943, starring Sergey Blinnikov in the title role. 

F.Portrait of Russian field-marshal M.I. Kutuzov  by R.M. Volkov

G. German troops in Russia during the winter of 1941-1942 suffered a fate similar to those of Napoleon in 1812.

H. The Potempkin Uniform as reconstructed in A.V. Viskovatov's monumental work, Historical Description of the Clothing and Arms of the Russian Army (1855).

I. Suvorov, 1940

J. War and Peace, directed by Sergey Bondarchuk(1968)

K. Kutuzov (1943)

Hidden Treasures

A gallery at the Walters Art Museum displaying a small portion of the the 

founders' collection arranged in the "salon" fashion popular in the 19th century. 

Note Detaille's "The Picket" in the lower left corner. 

On a visit to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, I was delighted to discover works by some of the best French military painters of the 19th century. http://thewalters.org

"The Picket" by Edouard Detaille, 1875. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

More and more museums are beginning to display their collections of academic art that they once hid away as embarrassingly old fashioned. 

"Irregulars in the Trenches," by Alphonse de Neuville, 1874. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

The Walters and some other smaller museums are especially good places to look for paintings like these because they are often built around their founders' personal collections. 

"Attack at Dawn" by Alphonse de Neuville, 1877. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

In this case, the collectors were William and Henry Walters, American millionaires of the "Gilded Age" who regularly traveled to Europe to buy art.

"Napoleon" by Jean Louis Meissonier, 1962, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.