Tragic Prelude

Tragic Prelude is a mural painted by Kansan John Steuart Curry for the Kansas State Capitol building in Topeka, Kansas. It depicts abolitionist Kansan John Brown with a Bible in one hand, on which the alpha and omega of Apocalypsis can be seen. In his other hand he holds a rifle or "Beecher's Bible" in the other, in front of Union and Confederate troops, with a whirlwind approaching. The "tragic prelude" is the Bleeding Kansas period of 1854–1860, prelude to or dress rehearsal for the Civil War, which John Brown was at the center of, preventing Kansas from being made a slave state.

Tragic Prelude
ArtistJohn Steuart Curry
Yearca. 1938-1940
Mediumoil and egg tempera
Dimensions350 cm × 940 cm (136 in × 372 in)
LocationKansas State Capitol, Topeka, Kansas

History

Inspired by A Social History of Missouri, a recent series of murals for the Missouri State Capitol by Missouri artist Thomas Hart Benton,[1] the Kansas Legislature commissioned the Kansan Curry to create a similar series for the Kansas State Capitol. Tragic Prelude was completed in 1937, using egg tempera and oil paint. It is 11 feet 4 inches (350 cm) tall, and 31 feet (940 cm) long.[2]

Curry's description

Centered on the north wall (31’ x 11’6”, 9.4m x 3.5m) is the gigantic figure of John Brown. In his outstretched left hand the word of God and in the right a “Beecher's Bible." Beside him facing each other are the contending free soil and pro-slavery forces. At their feet, two figures symbolic of the million and a half dead of the North and South. In this group is expressed the fratricidal fury that first flamed on the plains of Kansas, the Tragic Prelude to the last bloody feud of the English-speaking people. Back of this group are the pioneers and their wagons on the endless trek to the West, and back of all the tornado and the raging prairie fire, fitting symbols of the destruction of the coming Civil War.[3]

In a newspaper interview of 1939, he explained that "I wanted to paint him as a fanatic, for John Brown was a fanatic. He had the wild zeal of the extremist, the fanatic for his cause—and we had the Civil War, with its untold misery."[1] Later, he wrote in a letter: "I think he is the prototype of a great many Kansans. Someone described a Kansan as one who went about wreaking good on humanity. This might be the kernel of my conception."[1]

Rejection of Tragic Prelude

The Kansas Legislature rejected the mural, and refused to hang it in the Capitol as planned. Curry left Kansas in disgust, abandoning the rest of his Capitol project, and did not sign this or the other completed work, Kansas Pastoral, because he considered the project incomplete, not exphat he wanted. It was hung in the Capitol after his death.[4]

Archival material

A study for the mural is in the Spencer Museum.[5]

The image was used as the album cover of Kansas (1974), the debut album of the rock band Kansas. [6]

Further reading
  • Kendall, Sue (1986). Rethinking Regionalism, John Steuart Curry and the Kansas Mural Controversy. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 0874745683.
  • Coppel, Stephen (July 2008). "John Steuart Curry's Lithograph 'John Brown'". Burlington Magazine. 150 (1264): 471. JSTOR 40479802.

References
  1. McQuillen, Charles (March 25, 2017). "Cross-Curricular Connect: "Tragic Prelude"". Archived from the original on March 17, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  2. "Kansas Prelude". Kansas Memory. Kansas Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2016-09-05.
  3. Curry, John Steuart (c. 1937–1942). Description of Murals for Kansas State House. Washington, D.C.: John Steuart Curry and Curry family papers, 1900–1999. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution (Notes and Writings, Box 4, Folder 23). Archived from the original on 2020-03-17. Retrieved 2020-03-18. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. "The Controversy Surrounding "Tragic Prelude"". 17 September 2009. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  5. "Spencer Museum of Art | Collection - sketch for Tragic Prelude I (John Brown)". collection.spencerart.ku.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2016-09-05.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-05-02. Retrieved 2019-04-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.