|
|
Article: Have Palette Will Travel.(artists who painted early American West)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- February 23, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
The motley crew that set out with Lewis and Clark in 1804 to explore the American West included geologists, trappers, carpenters, blacksmiths, interpreters, and even a dog. But although some of them could sketch a crude picture, the team lacked a real artist. Lewis often bemoaned this oversight as he tried to capture the unexpected grandeur of the West. While struggling over a sketch of the Great Falls of the Missouri River, for example, he declared himself "disgusted with the imperfect idea which it conveyed of the scene."
Later expeditions to the uncharted lands west of the Mississippi remedied the error, and the artists who went along played a key role in ...