The Herald in the Country (Politics of 1852 or Who Let Down the Bars?), by William Sidney Mount (1807–1868)
To Use This Document
With Your Students
Date
1853
Description
Two men by a fence in the woods; one reads from a paper '... ork Herald'; the other man holds a farming tool upright in one arm and his other hand is in his pocket; the man reading the paper is sitting on the fence with a rifle leaning next to him against the fence; a dead bird is near the butt of the rifle. Signed at bottom right is 'Wm. S. Mount. 1853'; center left on tree or post is '1852'. Throughout his career, William Sidney Mount often returned to political themes. Mount himself was a supporter of the New York State Democratic Party. In the 1852 presidential election, Democrat Franklin Pierce beat Whig Winfield Scott in a landslide winning nearly 70 percent of the popular vote and electoral votes from all but four states. Mount’s alternate title for this work, Who Let Down the Bars, may be the artist’s dig at southern Whigs’ departure from their party that paved the way to the demolition of their party. The Long Island rural characters in this painting include a hunter who has stopped to share campaign news and possibly distract his farmer neighbor from the fact that he is hunting upon his land. A contemporary critic interpreted the work this way: "The scene is laid just prior to the Presidential election, and the farmer, in his anxiety to learn the current intelligence…forgets the cause of his anger, and seems to regard the trespasser in much the same light as people generally look upon the postman… It is evident the HERALD, like music, had ‘soothed the savage heart,’ for not a trace of anger is visible on the face of the agriculturalist, while the sportsman can ill conceal his joy at his fortunate escape."
Type
Image
Region
Long Island
Era
Expansion and Reform
Topic
Agriculture, Animals, Communication, Community, Environment
Repository
Identifier
0000.001.0013
Source
Long Island Museum, Stony Brook, NY, Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Ward Melville, 1955
Rights
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