Howard Pyle's America
1983; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 8; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/chq.0.0114
ISSN1553-1201
Autores Tópico(s)Mormonism, Religion, and History
ResumoHoward Pyle's America Robert Vitz (bio) The mere mention of Howard Pyle arouses visions of Robin Hood and Little John, of King Arthur locked in mortal combat with the Sable Knight, of a host of splendid pirates and adventurers. But we must not allow these childhood memories to obscure the depictions of historical characters that made up almost a third of Pyle's total work. How much richer our sense of history is today because of Pyle's imaginative rendering of Bunker Hill, with the British regulars resolutely marching toward the American lines, or of Lexington Common on that fateful April morning in 1775. Whether or not this is the way it was, it is surely the way it should have been. Nothing captures Pyle's interest more than the tension of physical action. His best subjects are caught in movement, muscles tensed, the ultimate outcome still in doubt. Pyle himself was a large man, and there is much of his own ruggedness in his characters, a ruggedness which he associated with the vitality of life. He looked for this vitality in his students also. Baseball and tennis, swimming parties, bicycle forays along dusty roads, and long rambles through the Brandywine countryside served to release the explosive energy of young muscles. There was more than mere Rooseveltian vigor in all this, however; Pyle wanted his students to experience aching muscles and straining limbs so that they could transfer these feelings onto canvas and paper. This concern for realism, coupled with a highly developed imagination, made Pyle the most important illustrator of his generation. Born to Quaker parents in Wilmington, Delaware, Howard Pyle grew up amidst solid, middle-class respectability. Early exposure to the great outpouring of illustrated English books and periodicals provided a powerful visual stimulus for his imagination. Fireside reading included Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, The Arabian Nights, and later, the Illustrated London News and London Punch.1 Supplementing this literary and artistic education were the absorbed sensations of "old" Wilmington. Cobblestone Streets, Delaware River wharves, Conestoga wagons and seventeenth century stone farmhouses, stories of Washington's army along the Brandywine, all extended a tangible link to the past. Since he was nurtured in Quaker abolitionism, the Civil War provided a dramatic excitement for the young Pyle, and he found the absorbing life around him far more stimulating than any formal schooling. Not surprisingly, poor grades in Latin and mathematics barred his path to college, and at the age of sixteen he headed for Philadelphia and a career in art.2 Three years of the traditional emphasis on technique from the undistinguished Mr. Van der Weilen provided the necessary skill and discipline. Returning to Wilmington, Pyle worked at both writing and drawing, not yet certain how he would utilize his twin skills. Then, in 1876, his combined talents enticed three acceptance notices from the New York publishing world, one from St. Nicholas and two from Scribner's Monthly. With the encouragement of Roswell Smith, of Scribner's , an elated Pyle soon set off for New York City to become a writer and artist.3 Early disappointment in the hectic publishing center rapidly gave way to success. The distinguished house of Harper opened its doors to him, and he joined a stable of artists that already included Charles Stanley Reinhart, Edwin A. Abbey, Arthur B. Frost, and the "old man," Thomas Nast, all working under the editorial eye of Charles Parsons. Here, Pyle felt at one with the world of art. His keen mind absorbed the many lessons of illustration work, from the first sketch to the final printing. But whatever the attractions of New York for other artists, it was not the place to bring out Pyle's talents. The quieter, more familiar atmosphere of the Brandywine River Valley beckoned, and the now confident professional returned to Wilmington.4 Perhaps Pyle was never truly comfortable with the emerging commercial world because his own work looked back to an earlier time. He found his America in the gentle Delaware countryside, a historic landscape that released the products of his imagination. Howard Pyle found a reality in the past. His most familiar writing, the books about Robin Hood and...
Referência(s)