Darkness Like a Dream: Nineteenth-Century Sandpaper Drawings

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ReNper"r, ewo ThNve HortoN, rNp MAtt Mur,r,rceN AND Ver,nnrn Surrn The Drewing Center'r DRAVING ROOM

4o WoosterStreet

Septemberro-October 14, 1999

NorB ro tnB Rreosn The lenders to the exhibition have contributed in sigrrificant and distinct ways to the study and understanding of sandpaper drawings. Currendy writing a book on the history of medium, Randall and Tanya between them. Their article 'sandpaper Paintings of Hofton have thirty years of collecting American Scenesoappeared in Antiques, September ry96.Matt Mullican and Valerie Smith find in the sandpaper tradition prescient signs of modernism. In acknowledgment of the many insights that the lenders bring to the sublect of sandpapers,Thc Drawing Center invited them to contribute essaysto this edition of the Druuting Papets.

"Following darknesslike a dream...."

William Shakespeare, A Midsutnmer Nigbt's Dream

The luminous power of black and white gives sandpaperstheir ineffable aura of mystery.

Like all romantic art theseworks are more readily felt than understood. Yet, at their best, these extraordinary examplesof nineteenth-centuryAmerican folk art capture in their monochrome blacknessthe dark undercurrent of life, which is simultaneouslyredeemed through the artist's enlightening vision. It is this animated dialogue between the darkness and light that makes theseworks so compelling.

The art form was extremelypopular in America in the r85os and r86os, having been introduced to this country by B.F. Gandee,an English drawing instructor whose book on the ornamentalarts was publishedin London and New York in r835. Although thousands of theseworks were produced and have survived to the present da5 the medium has been largely overlooked in the study of our nation's folk art. Collecting and researching this art form has allowed us to rescuethe artists and their creations from undeserved obscurity and encouragea new appreciation of this visually arresting medium. Generally referred to today as "sandpaper painting," the term is a double misnomer, as works so describedare neither on sandpapernor are they paintings. In fact, a sandpaperpainting is a drawing in charcoal or pastel on a surface that has been specially treated with marble dust to give it a sandpaper-likesparkle and tooth. Nineteenth-century artists often referred to the technique as "monochromatic painting," in part to highlight its original emphasison the single color black. In addition, the associationwith painting, rather than drawing, gave the finished product an elevatedstatus.

The processbegan with a heavy drawing board that was coated first with white paint and then, when the paint was not quite dr5 with pulverized marble sifted through fine muslin. The board so prepared was left to cure for a week or more. The artist then applied charcoal or pastel in stick or powder form, creating the basic shapesof the intended image. To achieve soft lighting and definition, the artist carefully left areasof the painting untouched or gradually removed charcoal with an eraseror piece of leather.To create sharp details and contrasts, the artist scrapedaway charcoal with a knife. Much of the white that one seesin sandpapersis not applied chalk but the revealedwhite background.

At mid-nineteenth century, there was widespread interest in the arts and a genuine desire among young men and women to acquire culture. Art instruction becamea valued part of a complete education. Private academiesdid much to fuel the popularity of sandpaper painting, frequently advertising instruction by teacherswho were specifically conversant with its methods. \fhile young ladies certainly produced the preponderanceof these pictures, the technique appealedto a much broader segmentof the population than has heretofore been recognized.Our researchconfirms that the medium was one of the principal popular art forms of the day, practiced by boys and girls, men and women, amateurs and professionals.

The sandpapertechnique was remarkably easyto learn and could accommodatea range of talents from the untutored to the professional.As one newspapereditor observed, "It is within the power of any person, young or old, of ordinary capacity,to acquire this art in such perfectionas to be able to produce a picture, that shall almost rival a Mezzotint in its mellowness,beauty, and delicacy." The referenceto the mezzotint helps explain the original intent of this medium: to emulate and give substanceto the material blackness

captured in engravings.In the nineteenth century, sandpaperswere also favorably compared to daguerreotypes:"For truthfulness of outline and effect of light and shadethey bear a striking resemblanceto large daguerreotypes,although much larger and bolder than thesecan be made."

The vast majority of sandpaperswere based on prints that appeared in the monthly ladies' magazines,volumes of poetry gift books, travelogues, and a range of other publications.

While artists took their initial inspiration from such prints, they did not merely copy, but often embellished freelS creating pieceswith a remarkable degreeof originality and expressiveness. Tbe Magic Lake was one of the most dramatic and frequently rendered images in this medium becauseits romantic and spiritual subject lent itself to individual interpretation and artistic vision. There is palpable drama in the darkness of the landscape,the desperate postures of the figures, and the faces that stare down on them from the outline of the cave.

Here, the dialogue between light and dark is at its most poetic.

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On Sandpapers The mid-nineteenth century was a rich period for American arts and letters. The great American authors Ralph'Waldo Emerson,Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, \Valt 'Whitman, Henry \7. Longfellow, and Henry David Thoreau had all written influential books by this time, and the painters John F. Kensett, Frederick E. Church, Fitz Hugh Lane, Martin J. Heade, and GeorgeCaleb Bingham were busy pursuing a vision that would illuminate both the spirit of nature and technological 6lan of their time. To complicate their search,the invention of the daguerreotypeand the ability to record the world "truthfully" both aided and killed the businessof painting for the effect of accuracyand information. However, the real/ideal debate in American painting was already framed by the time photography came along, photography just forced those positions into focus.

Meanwhile, for "students" of the arts, picture making was not an endeavorwith high philosophicalstakes,but a meansto cultivate one'smind. In addition, it was a popular pastimeand provided intellectualentertainment,like playing the piano or writing and reading poetry. Toward this end, sandpapers(a misnomer for charcoal on a ready-made marble dust surface)were the perfect medium. Once a suitableprint had beencopied the serious amateur was free to embellish the source in order to achievea conceptual vision.

This desire to embellish resulted in a hybrid of often contradictory compositional sources: documentaryand religious.This was made possible,in part, becausethe basisof the artistic practice was naive or primitive and becausephotography's new and improved version of the "truth" liberated subject matter from the strictures of verisimilitude. This ultimately allowed sandpapersto take on the interpretationand the simplification of an abstract monochromatic form.

A notable aspectof sandpapersis that most often the subjectsusedwere third or fourth generation representations.The original image may have been a master painting or a sketch then copied as an etching or a lithograph which was in turn copied as a sandpaper.

During this last stage in the processthe subject was often reinterpreted with a freshnessit had lost in the translation from painting to graphic image. Sinceaccuracy was never an issue,the romantic spirit of the artist's vision was allowed to reach a level of abstract realism,which the print, at this stageof its developmentin America, had not. In this sense sandpapersused the print as a skeleton to flesh out and heighten the contrast between black and white. Concurrent with this reductive style, the technique could also reach a high level of sophistication. In sandpaperssuch as Sabbath Day Point the subtle use of chiaroscuroin gradationsof sky tones or modulations in mountain shapeseasilyparallel the best luminist painting.

It is not surprising that many sandpaperartists tried to emulate the style of the master painters of their time. Ifhat is unusual is that others were loyal to their primitive instincts and developeda new form. tilfhat emergedfrom that practice was a deliberateattempt to accentuateand anthropomorphize elementsof a scene.For instance,in Niagara Falls, the shoots of water are rendered as two rounded humps, which squeezea tail of stiff white spray up and out into the air like a fan (p. 9, top). Another part of the picture shows a Greek Revival fagade-a kind of Arcadian non sequitur-the columns of which are reduced to stark black-and-white stripes. Directly below the facade, leading up to it, is a ladder, a vertical echo of the columns above. Rocks and trees take on the silhouette of spectersand eerie patterns emerge.To this artist, Niagara was no tourist retreat, but a

place of metaphysicalvisions and Gothic nightmares akin to the uncanny world of Edgar Allan Poe and the Symbolists.In this and similar sandpapersthe artist did not choose to illustrate a place or document a subject, but rather to record the imagination in its projection of a mood. Sandpaperartists understood that nature was a construction of memorg in the caseof Niagara Falls a horrific and vivid interior experience.

Similarly, buildings depicted in other sandpaperspossessa stark simplicity that reveals the harsh reality of life in America around the mid-eighteenhundreds. "Lutheran Church atTrapp,Montgomery..." is descriptivein a strangelyByzantineway. Skewedangles,a torqued portico, and disproportionately scaledfenestration animate the fagade of this church like a sinister cartoon. The lines that describea solid structure, the value modulations, and the scarcity of burdensomevisual detail make "Lutheran Church" the transfiguration of "our daily bread."

For the most part sandpaperswere not a medium in which direct ideas were expressed from nature. As a third generation representation,a sandpaperborrowed subject matter and often altered it, ultimately reflecting a contradictory composition. The keen interest in mysticism played out in idealized versions of ancient cultures and times-Byzantine, Arcadian, biblical, and medieval-was a harbinger of the Symbolist aesthetic.At the same time, the inescapablefact of a tremendous and complex natural world was registeredas a concrete sign and foreshadowed the beginning of American abstraction developedby the early modernists.

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List of 'Worksin the Exhibition Works are listed by collection and, thereafter,alphabetically by title. Inscribed titles are indicated by quotation marks. Names of artists and dates of works are provided wheneverpossible.Unlessotherwise noted, the medium is charcoal on marble-dusteddrawing board. Framed dimensionsare given in inches, followed by centimeters.

Corrnctror.r or RINoALL AND ThNve Horror.t The Arctic Rescue 6x9$5.zxzz.9)

*Aurora, NY"

Memorial to JosephPease 15 x 19 i l 4 (38.r x 48.9) (Illus.)

"Mitiam Palmer Died.June 6, 1794, Sutton, NH..."

GBonce Srnet:rox z5 rl4 x 3z il4 (64.r x 8r.91

zo x z5 rl z (5o.8x 64.8)

BlennerhassettIsland

Morning in Greece,Scarred Shy

t 8 x z 4 r l z ( 4 5 . 7x 6 z,zl

z3 rlz x 29 159.7x 73.41

Byron's Dream

Pothto Loke

z5 318x 31 114$4.5 x 8o.71

ry 718x zz 518145.4x 57.51

Euening, Scenein Neu lersq, r 85 j Alsrnr A. CHBxrv z4 x 3o (6r x 76.21

Farmhouseutitb Wbite Gdte Eoveno F. Rexxrr,s 9 314x rr uh6 124.8x 29.71

Ruins of Palmyra z4 x 3z rl 8 (6r x 8r.5)

Solitude,1857 Menv Elrze Spnrxcrn ry r14x4Q3.8x58.41 (Illus.)

'lffley Church"

The Token of the Couenant

EDvARD F. R rxxrrs ro tilr6 x rz 7h6 (27.2 x 3r.6)

E.S.Hwtrr Charcoal and pastel on marble-dusteddrawing board 18 ilz x z4 5lt6 (47 x 6r.81

*Magic Lake" 4 318x 3o 318(59.4 x 77.21

Tuto Plain Cott4ges, r8t9

*Tbe Magic Lake"

Eovenp F. R.ANNELS ro r3l r5 x tz txh6 (27.5x 3z.zl

z 5 3 1 1 6x 3 r r l 8 ( 6 4 x 7 9 1

*The Magic Lake" 19 518x 4 (Illus.)

518(49.9 x 6ol

"The Magic Lake, a Scenefrotn the Pilgrim of Loue" Sartain'sMagazine,April 1852, vol. X, no. 4 JAMEsHAMTLToN,artist JonN Senrerx, engraver Mezzotint, etching, and line engraving 6 i l 4 x 9 3 1 4 f 5 . 9 x 2 4 .8 1

Vieut Near Woodeaton,Oxford.shire,England EDvARD F. RenxeI,s to rrlr6 x tz rilr6 (27,2 x 3z,zl

View of the Hudson Riuer from Hyd.ePark z3 ilz x 3r rlz (59,7 x 8ol

Cor,r,ncrroxor M.a.rrMur.r.rcexexo Ver.nnrtSurrrr Building uitb a Founuin

Miliury Acadmy

4 rlz x 3o rlz 16z.zx 77.51

xr Vl4 x 4 7lq Q99 x 34.91

Caae-in-the-Rock, Ohio Riuer, lllinois 4 x tg Vlqlll x +ol

Niagara Falls, New Yorh

Church

tt x z4 1534 x 6tl (Illus.)

x8 x zq rlt (q5.7 x 6z.tl

Niagara Falk,NewYork

Churehand Ruinson a Riuer

zo x z6 3/r6 (5o.Ex 66.5) (Illuc.)

x8 zlz x zl QZ x SE.+l

Crow's Nest from BnII Hill, West Point, Neut York

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Fort

Oread Colhgiate lrrstitute,'Worcester, Massachusetts

xt r,lz x t6 l,lz (29.2 x qt.9l

zr x z5 $7.7 x 61.51

Fort t8 rlz x zz tlz (47 x g7.zl

George Wasbington's Tomb, Moant Vernon, NeuYork t7 rlzx z7 tlz (4q.5 x 59.71

t8 tlz x zq lq7 x 6tl

Riuer Gorge zo x z5 r,l4 (So.8 x 61.8)

River Gorge x8 tlz x z6 xlz (47 x 67.11

Hatper's Ferry, Nant York

Sabbath Dcy Point, Lake George, Nant Yorh

z6 tlz x lx llt GZ.t x 8o.Zl

t9 rlz x z6 (+g.Sx 661

Lake Sceneat night

Sabbath Dcy Point, Lahe George, Neut Yorh Hrrnr P.Arorr

z1x z7 rlz (58.+x 6g.gl

*Lutheran Cburcb dtTra?p, Montgomery Co. Pa, Oldest Church in Ameriu" t6 r,lz x t8 rlz (qt.9 x 471

16 rVlr6 x zz 3lt6 lqz.7 x 56.q1

Sermon on the Moant 16 r,lz t zt rlq lqt.9 x 5ql

The Drawing Center is the only not-for-profit institution in the country to focus solely on the exhibition of drawings, both contemporary and historic. It was establishedin 1976 to provide opportunities for emerging and under-recognizedartists; to demonstrate the significance and diversity of drawings throughout history; and to stimulate public dialogue on issuesof art and culture.

This is number z of the Drauing Papers,a seriesof publications documenting The Drawing Center's exhibitions and public programs and providing a forum for the study of drawing.

Boeno or Drnrctons Dita Amory George Negroponte Co-Chairmen Frances Beatty Adler James M. Clark, Jr. FrancesDittmer Colin Eisler Bruce Ferguson Michael Iovenko Werner H. Kramarsky Abby Leigh I7illiam S. Lieberman Glenn Ligon Michael Lynne Sally Engelhard Pingree Elizabeth Rohatyn* Eric C. Rudin JeanneC. Thayer* Edward H. Tuck Andrea Woodner * Emeritus Catherine de Zegher ExecutiueDirector

B

Major support for the development and presentation of the Drauting Papershas been generously contributed by FrancesDittmer.

The paper of the Drauing Papersis provided by the Aberdeen Paper Group a division of Central Lewmar LLP.

The Drawing Center is also grateful for the support it receivesfor its exhibition programs and operations from the following sources: Benefactors Adler Family Foundation, The Charles Engelhard Foundation, Fifth Floor Foundation, Horace'W. Goldsmith Foundation, Mitch & Abby Leigh Foundation, Edward John Noble Foundation, May & SamuelRudin Family Foundation, Inc., EugeneV. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust.

Maior Sponsors Robert Sterling Clark Foundation,JeromeFoundation,Jo Carole & Ronald S. Lauder, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Sponsors Harriet Ames Charitable Trust, Anne H. Bass,The Bohen Foundation, Frances 6< John Bowes, The Buhl Foundation, Charina Foundation, Christie's,The Chubb Corporation, Con Edison, Cowles Charitable Trust, Douglas Cramer, Katherine Farley & Jerry I. Speyer,Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, Inc., The Howard Gilman Foundation, Goldberger Foundation, Jeanne Greenberg & Nicolas Rohatyn, The Greenwall Foundation, The Greenwich Collection Ltd., The l7illiam and Mary Greve Foundation, Inc., The Heathcote Art Foundation, Home Box Office (HBO), Mr. 6c Mrs. James Houghton, Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, Alison Lasley, Philip Morris Companies Inc., The Felix & Elizabeth Rohatyn Foundation, The Schiff Foundation, Roy & Niuta Titus Foundation, Tufts Foundation, \Teingart Foundation, Elizabeth Weir & Mallory Factor, and The Woodcock Foundation.

With significant support from The Institute of Museum and Library Services,National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, and The Drawing Cenrer's National Council. Friends.and Members.

The Drawing Center 35 Vooster Street New York, NY roor3 Telzztz-zt9-2t66 Faxzzrz-966-2976 Cover: 'The trvlagiclake,n Collection of Randdl and Tirnya Holton Photo credits: Collection of Matt Mullican and Valerie Smith: Cathy Carver; Collection of Randall and Tanya Holton: Tanya Hohon