I subscribe to The New Yorker, but somehow I missed this article in "The Talk of the Town" until Arts & Letters Daily pointed me to it on the internet. I felt sad reading this story about a maritime painting showing a black Revolutionary War sailor in front of a Clipper ship, but the tale has a quirky and sweet ending.
Click over and read the story, then join me in saluting the resilient spirit of Dr. Alexander McBurney, who bought a painting and treasured it for thirty years before discovering he'd been had--and who then realized that the truth of the painting wasn't on the canvas, but in his own heart.
4 comments:
Great story, Brenda. Thanks for sharing it. (a google images search turned up this; I suspect it's the painting from the story.)
Chris, many thanks. I thought about Googling for the pic but was short on time this morning.
Clearly, I can't run this blog all by myself....
Thanks Brenda...that was a poignant story.
Thanks Chris for the link, I like Brenda didn't have the time to search it out!
JJT, I was deeply touched by your comment. But even though some unscrupulous individual turned a nice little painting into a lie that fooled a lot of people, the fact remains that blacks did perform valuable services in the Revolutionary War.
Because Dr. McBurney never knew his sailor's name or whether, in fact, the portrait depicted a real individual, I imagine he looked at it in much the same way as we view an American flag--as a symbol. The painting became a reminder of the black heroes who were never properly celebrated in their time or ours. That's why I love it that your stepfather has "restored" the painting. And I hope this story is told far and wide for years to come.
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.
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