‘John Trumbull’ The Historical Artist of American Independence

John Trumbull‘s self-portrait [사진제공 : Wikipedia]

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Every work of art has a copyright a right to be protected from imitation and abuse. However copyrights also have expiration dates which is 70 years after the holders death. From the point the work can be shared. So-called Copyleft series Peoples Painting we will get to know artists whose copyright expires after leaving numerous masterpieces in their lifetime.

Name: John Trumbull

Birth: June 6 1756

Death: November 10 1843

Nationality: United States

Style: Realism

Representative works: ‘Declaration of Independence’ ‘Surrender of General Burgoyne’ ‘Surrender of Lord Cornwallis ‘General George Washington Resigning His Commission’

Painting the history of a country is a great honor but at the same time a great burden. In the Capitol of the U.S. the country which has a relatively short history but has grown into a great power as many as four paintings of only one artist are displayed. For todays painting I am going to introduce the works of John Trumbull who lost his sight as a child but devoted himself and his art life to American history.

In 1756 before the complete United States was established as it is under Britain John Trumbull was born in the city of Lebanon Connecticut. Being talented in art at the age of 15 he entered to Harvard Junior Class in 1771 and graduated in 1773 but completely lost one eye sight due to an unfortunate accident.

Nevertheless he did not give up on art. Rather he drew better paintings than his peers with his elaborate observing ability. Meanwhile an independence war from Britain broke out in the United States and John served as a soldier for a while. Although he could not go to the battlefield due to his eyesight he was assigned to move the incidents about British forces into paintings and was appointed as the second assistant of George Washington (the general then) who was later elected as the first president.

John after being discharged from the military in 1777 moved to Britain and studied art in earnest under Benjamin West a famous American historical artist. Maybe Benjamin decided to train John as his junior. He gave John many painting requests related to the War of Independence which led him to paint the countrys history without drawing individual paintings.

His early works completed in 1786 The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker and The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec illustrate the terribleness and reality of the War of Independence at the time. Currently both works are owned by the art gallery of Yale University.

Later in 1795 Johns famous painting which was also printed in the U.S. two dollar bill was completed. It is the very work called Declaration of Independence. It is a symbol of American history and is currently on display in large-scale at the U.S. Capitol and in miniature at Yale University which is located in Johns hometown of Connecticut.

This work shows the scene in which five people including Thomas Jefferson are submitting a draft of the declaration to John Hancock chairman of the Second Continental Congress on June 28 1776 and was later completed by John in 1795 at the request of Jefferson after accomplishing the Declaration of Independence and the actual independence of the United States. As it is literally the scene where the independence of the United States began it remains as a commemorative work to this day.

The five people appeared in the painting include Benjamin Franklin the father of the U.S. founding who appeared in the $100 bill John Adams who served as the U.S. first vice president and the second president Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston who laid the framework for the Declaration of Independence and Thomas Jefferson who was appointed as the third president of the United States. Each of the characters has a great achievement that made todays America.

John Trumbull who painted this is also regarded as a great man in America. Therefore in addition to the Declaration of Independence the later completed works The Surrender of General Burgoyne The Surrender of Lord Con Wallace and Resignation Washington were commissioned to be purchased by the United States Congress and displayed as large-scale paintings.

Although he was not prolific due to his poor eyesight in one eye each of his paintings has become of historic significance. In addition to the paintings hanging in the Hall of the U.S. Capitol most of his works are still on display at large museums such as Boston and New York to this day.

At that time John who was studying art in England was imprisoned on charges of spying. He could have the great honor of serving the country in the future but there must have been a huge burden at the time. Nevertheless John Trumbull is an artist who was with the history of a country. Todays Americans are able to remember the great days for independence through Johns paintings.

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