Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Painting |
Title |
Evening Gun Fort Sumter |
Catalog Number |
0985.14.00037g |
Date |
1864 |
Description |
Oil on board painting, one of a set of thirty-one images detailing the fortifications of Charleston, South Carolina. Depicts a crumbling fort with a Second National Confederate flag flying above it, and two men standing at base of flagpole; detritus such as gabions and broken artillery pieces and limbers litter the ground; cityscape on skyline; appears to be sunset in the distance. This is a copy made by the artist's father from the original sketch. Not signed or dated. Painted in black script along lower front edge of frame, "EVENING GUN OF SUMTER". Paper label adhered to reverse of frame, "Fort Sumter. Evening Gun." Painted on reverse of frame, "EVENING GUN OF SUMTER". |
Material |
paint (oil); wood (board) |
Dimensions |
H-11.5 W-15.5 inches |
Owned |
Conrad Wise Chapman |
Owner Regiment |
Co. D, 3rd Kentucky Infantry; Co. A, 46th Virginia Infantry; Ordnance Sgt., Wise's Brigade |
Made |
Conrad Wise Chapman (sketcher); John Gadsby Chapman (painter) |
Provenance |
Conrad Wise Chapman sketched this scene, and his father John Gadsby Chapman painted it. The oil painting, "Evening Gun, Fort Sumter" was painted from sketches made between September 1863 and March 1864 in Charleston, South Carolina while Chapman was on furlough in Rome, Italy in 1864. According to notes made during an 1898 interview with Chapman, "Shows gorge wall, right in front of the Yankees." Chapman and his regiment, the 59th Virginia Infantry, along with the rest of General Henry Wise's brigade, went to Charleston in September 1863 to aid in the defense of that city under General P. G. T. Beauregard. He was assigned special duty as artist to illustrate the siege defenses. He received a leave of absence in March 1864 to return to Italy, where he finished the series of oil paintings. |
People |
Chapman, John Gadsby Chapman, Conrad Wise |
Search Terms |
Fort Sumter Siege of Charleston |
Subjects |
Forts & fortifications Flags Art Paintings soldiers |