The best de-mythification of the "headless canvases" argument regarding
itinerant nineteenth-century portraitists that I have found is Estill Curtis
Pennington, Messengers of Style: Itinerancy and Taste in Southern
Portraiture, 1784-1867 (Greenville, SC: Greenville County Museum of Art,
1993), especially page 6.

In essence, he cites the absence of anecdotal as well as physical evidence
such as headless bodies on canvases among the effects of deceased
painters‹plus numerous extant unfinished canvases with heads but no bodies
or backgrounds.

Still, there is a lot of similarity among some 19th-century portraits by
itinerant artists (e.g., C. R. Parker) that contributes to the "headless
canvas" myth.

Another great myth of American art history holds that equestrian statues
indicate the way the rider died by the number of feet the horse has on the
ground.   Poppycock.  The portrayal of the horse (calm for Lee and Grant,
striding for Stonewall Jackson, rearing for hell-for-leather cavalry
officers,) convey some of the character of the rider, but there is no
formula for feet on the ground.  That said, the guides at Gettysburg have
worked out a concordance that reflects reality, but no patron or artist ever
subscribed to it.


Michael W. Panhorst, Ph.D.
Curator of Art and AP Art History Instructor
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
One Museum Drive/POB 230819
Montgomery, AL 36123-0819
334.240.4353
[log in to unmask]

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.  MLK, Jr.


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