PILGRIM EXILES
Questions to arouse interest. Describe this picture. Where are these people? Who are they? Who were the Pilgrims? Where are they looking? Why do you think they may be homesick or sad? What time of day do you think it is? (Notice the shadows.) What time of year does it seem to be? How is the man dressed? the two women? What relation do you think these people are to each other? Upon what is the older woman sitting? What can you see in the distant background?
Artist: George Henry Boughton (bȏ´´tȯn).
Birthplace: Norwich, England.
Dates: Born, 1833; died, 1905.
The story of the picture. We all know how, long ago, that sturdy band of one hundred and two Puritans left England in the small and storm-beaten ship called the Mayflower. They were called Puritans because they were dissatisfied with the religion of the Church of England, and demanded purification of all the old observances and doctrines.
When they began to establish in England separate churches of their own, they were driven from place to place. They longed for a land where they could worship God in their own way, so they came to America, determined to endure every danger and to trust in God to care for them. Their wanderings from place to place had given them a new name, "Pilgrim," which means "wanderer." Then, ever since their landing on the rock at Plymouth, they have been called Pilgrim Fathers.
There were many women and children in this band of wanderers. On the journey a little baby was born and was called Oceanus after the great rolling ocean.
The Pilgrims endured many hardships in those first few years, and none more distressing than the frequent attacks by the Indians, who resented the strangers' presence in a land which belonged to them. The Pilgrims carried their guns with them even when they went to church, for they never knew just when they might be attacked.
They arrived in the fall of the year, too late to plant grain or to put by enough provisions for the winter, so they were quite dependent upon the provision boat from England. Often this boat was long delayed because of storms at sea, or because the people in England did not send it on time. This caused much suffering and distress.
In our picture we see three of the first settlers of our New England coast, waiting for the provision ship. The waves come rolling in to this rough and barren shore, but as far as the eye can see there is yet no sign of the awaited boat. On that point of land in the distance are a few rude houses which must be the homes of the Pilgrims. This dreary place, so bleak and barren, makes us wonder how they could ever hope to survive the perils of a winter there.
Our interest is centered upon the three figures at the right in the picture. One can almost read the thoughts expressed in the three faces. The figure of the man stands out strong and erect, and there is that in his fixed gaze which tells us his thoughts are far away. No doubt he is thinking of his old home across the ocean. He is homesick, yet go back he would not; there is no sign of discouragement. His wife, standing beside him, places her hand on his shoulder to comfort him, but she too looks as if she were thinking of that other home and the friends across the sea. Her gentle, refined face is saddened for the moment, yet in it we see expressed the fine courage which has carried her thus far along the way.
The mother, seated on the great rock, has the same thoughtful, far-away gaze. Her hands, clasped in her lap, have more of resignation and patience in them. Probably her thoughts and affections are centered in the two dear ones beside her, and in their welfare, rather than in the friends across the sea.
Notice the Puritan dress, cloaks, shoes, caps, and collars. These people are well dressed, and do not seem to be poor. Perhaps they are simply longing to hear from their friends, and hoping the ship will bring some news of them. It may be that it has been due for several days, and each day they have walked out to this same rocky point, hoping to see it on the distant horizon.
They are dressed in warm clothes. From that fact and from the half-bare branches of the bush that we see growing beside the rock in the foreground of the picture we should judge it to be the fall of the year.
Standing in the bright sunlight, they look anxiously out toward the rolling ocean. The length of the shadows makes us think it must be late in the afternoon.
When at last they catch a glimpse of the dark masts of the approaching ship they will send a glad shout along the shore, and soon the beach will be crowded with an anxious throng of people hoping for some message or news from home.
At what seems to be a long distance from the shore the great ship will cast anchor and send out its rowboats filled with passengers, mail, and provisions. How eagerly the homesick people will crowd around the new arrivals and welcome them! Our three friends will not be standing quiet and alone, but each will be hurrying about to help the others. The spirit of helpfulness was very strong in those days of hardship and toil.
Notice the arrangement of lights and shadows in this picture. Our eye is first attracted to the faces of these three Pilgrims, then carried almost in a circle to the ocean, the rocks at the left side of the picture, to the rock the mother is seated upon, and back to the three faces. Start where we please the play of light leads us back to the three faces brought out by the white collars. Suppose we start with the mother's hands, our eyes follow her apron, the man's shoes, the light on the grass and ocean, then to the man's face and on around. Without these echoes of light, the picture would be unbalanced and much less interesting.
Half close your eyes and study the picture. There is not a single straight line in the composition. Notice the placing of the horizon line, of the distant shore. The artist started his landscape much as we do, with a rectangular space divided into two parts by the horizon line. He chose for his picture a small division for sky; the larger space to be divided into less than half as much water as land. Instead of standing so the shore line would appear exactly horizontal, he chose a position where the near shore line and that of the distant point of land are at an angle, thus relieving the monotony.
The tall, determined figure of the man, and his gentle wife, standing silhouetted against the sky, hold the ground space and the sky space together, while the mother seated on the rock serves as another connecting link. All the figures serve to unite the different parts of the picture into an effect of unity most gratifying to the eye.
Questions to help the pupil understand the picture. Tell about the Puritans. Why were they so called? Why did they leave England? In what boat did they sail? To what country did they come? Why were they then called Pilgrims? Why did they have such a hard time in this country? Upon what were they dependent? Why was the boat often delayed? What are the three people in our picture waiting for? What do the expressions in their faces tell us? How can we tell what time of year it is? the time of day? What will they do when they see the boat? Who will join them? Where will they come from? What can you see of their homes? Why are they so anxious to have the boat come? Why cannot the ship land at this beach? How will it land its passengers and freight? What do you suppose these three people will be doing then? What can you say of the composition of this picture? What did the artist consider first? What holds the ground and the sky spaces together? What can you say of the light and shade in this picture? Why is the picture called "Pilgrim Exiles"?
The story of the artist. George Henry Boughton was born near Norwich, England, but when he was only a year old his parents came to America. He grew up and was educated at Albany, New York, where he first began to paint.
As soon as he started to school he showed great skill at drawing, by, as he says, "drawing every mortal thing that came under my notice."
When he was nineteen years old he sold enough of his sketches to pay his way back to London, England. He spent several months in England, sketching wherever he went. When he came back to New York he painted a picture called "Winter Twilight," which marked the beginning of his success. Later he spent a year in Paris, finally making his permanent home in London.
His studio in New York City was given up, but, although he lived in England, his art remained distinctly American.
He was especially interested in the history and literature of our country and has been called "the interpreter and illuminator of New England life in the seventeenth century."
Besides painting, he wrote for magazines, illustrating his own stories with great success.
Questions about the artist. Tell about the artist. Where was he born? Where did he grow up? How old was he when he came to America? In what did he excel at school? When did he go back to England? How did he earn the money? What did he do when he came back? Of what country did he paint the most pictures? What part of our history interested him especially? In what else was he successful besides painting?
