Picturing Thoreau: Henry David Thoreau in American Visual Culture

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As we approach the bicentennial, in 2017, of the birth of Henry David Thoreau, there is considerable debate and confusion as to what he may, or may not have, contributed to American life and culture. Almost every American has heard of Thoreau, but only a few are aware that he was deeply engaged with most of the important issues of his day, from slavery to Manifest Destiny and the rights of the individual in a democratic society. Many of these issues are still affecting us today, as we move toward the second quarter of the twenty-first century. By studying how various American artists have chosen to portray Thoreau over the years since the publication of Walden in 1854, we can gain a clear understanding of how he has been interpreted (or misinterpreted) throughout the years since his death in 1862. But along the way, we might also find something useful, for our times, in the insights that Thoreau gained as he wrestled with the most urgent problems being experienced by American society in his day.

Reviews

Sullivan is incisive about how and why people portrayed Thoreau and the uses they made of those images. . . .It is an enjoyable and informative book, one that both provides solid information on many images as well as challenges us to respond to Sullivans interpretation of them. * Resources for American Literary Study *
Sullivan is the first art historian to study Thoreaus changing reputation over the years. . . .Sullivan organizes his study chronologically, using images of Thoreau made during his lifetime, friends depictions of his appearance, and a useful checklist of known portraits of Thoreau from 1854 to 2013. * American Literature *
Gathered in one volume, this selection of portraits of Thoreau, especially those done from life with Thoreaus collaboration, is a useful compendium. * New England Quarterly *
What [the author] set out to do, and he does it well, is to present Thoreau as a pivotal and seminal figure who, like Abraham Lincoln, came to be portrayed in paintings, prints, photographs, and cartoons, as a symbol and reflection of the ideological or political point the artist supported.... Sullivan has done an excellent job in examining our icons and heroes in just the way we need to do in contemporary American Cultural Studies. * Journal of American Culture *
Playful, rumpled, hostile, haunted, heroic: in this rich and surprising history, Mark Sullivan has combed through a vast archive of images to show how America has imagined Henry D. Thoreau from his day to our ownfrom idealistic poet, to craggy rebel, to ancient prophet. Using images drawn from childrens literature and high art, cartoons, murals, sculptures, and more, Sullivans cavalcade of Henrys down through nearly two centuries reveals how Thoreau has long been a figure good to think withboth an index to a changing national moodand a provocation to keep on imagining who we are today, and who we might become.Laura Dassow Walls, University of Notre Dame -- Laura Dassow Walls, William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English, University of Notre Dame
From the mirror of the daguerreotype, to a myriad of sketches and sculptures, to the vilified 1967 U.S. postage stamp, Mark Sullivan gives an in-depth look at images of this iconic figure by the few artists who knew him and the many who didnt, showing that who we see when we see Thoreau differs dramatically from age to age and from artist to artist. A needed and long-overdue portrait of the artist.Jeffrey S. Cramer, editor of The Portable Thoreau and Walden: A Fully-Annotated Edition -- Jeffrey S. Cramer, editor of The Portable Thoreau and Walden: A Fully-Annotated Edition
Mark Sullivan provides a timely and comprehensive overview of the various visual representations of Thoreaus likeness since 1854. Picturing Thoreau: Henry David Thoreau in American Visual Culture charts interesting new ground in Thoreau studies; it locates the authors fame within popular culture and redraws his characterization as a symbolic champion of the environment, and of American individualism. Thoreaus name and face, Sullivan demonstrates, have not always been in a manner consistent with the authors original intent, and have been used to support causes as diverse as American isolationism, the American Civil Rights Movement, environmentalism, the Restoration movements belief in the therapeutic impact of walking, and even the recent Occupy Wall Street movement. The book includes a very useful and extensive checklist of Thoreau images dating from 1854 to the present.Joy Sperling, Denison University -- Joy Sperling, Denison University

Author Bio

Mark Sullivan is associate professor of art history and director of the Art History program at Villanova University.