tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920009031690353866.post8745875329405125641..comments2023-11-13T12:37:50.833-05:00Comments on Army of Tennessee: Kurz & Allison and Memory of CombatLee Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00582934303160302669noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920009031690353866.post-71495324405426615702009-02-10T23:32:00.000-05:002009-02-10T23:32:00.000-05:00I would beg to differ with regard to the "rac...I would beg to differ with regard to the "race angle." In several of their prints K&A did not depict a clean, white man's war. Have you seen the depiction of the Ft. Pillow Massacre? It's pretty brutal stuff. And unlike many of their white contemporaries K&A actually gave the Colored Troops their due, depicting them as brave, skillful soldiers in scenes depicting Ft. Wagner and Olustee.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920009031690353866.post-86574066710905004642008-03-10T10:04:00.000-04:002008-03-10T10:04:00.000-04:00I looked over my shoulder at the K&A version of th...I looked over my shoulder at the K&A version of the "Battle of Chattanooga". I am struck by a few things. First, the landscape is both compressed in space and generalized in nature. This is a familiar trope in K&A prints. Compressing the narrative to an understandable scale seems to fit with much of the memory being generated during the late 19th century. The images seem to make the same move that so much of the literature does -- replace complexity and confusion with simple, comprehensible narratives that focus on the heroism of men on both sides. In the Battle of Chattanooga print you can pick out minor details that seem to point to some form of realism -- an artistic style that was out of favor in the late 19th century by the way -- a few rebels are seen in civilian clothes (though neat and clean) for example. But overall the image "works" to uphold the simplistic notion of what the war was about/like. <BR/><BR/>Second, as with most K&A prints this one represents landscape with little reference to historical conditions. In the Battle of Chattanooga, the contestants fight amidst a broad open forest of Douglas Firs that appears almost parklike. This isn't really surprising in a time when increasing numbers of Americans were experiencing "nature" in "parks" or other constructed spaces. <BR/><BR/>Finally, the uniforms -- not even close. As with many of the K&A prints many of the rebel infantry wear uniforms trimmed in red. Now we could say "gee, the artist must have talked to some of the AOT veterans who wore red trimmed CD jackets". But I doubt it. The tone of the uniforms worn by both sides is decidedly late 19th century. Again, given the popularity of things manly and military in the late 19th century this self-referential move isn't that surprising. <BR/><BR/>Perhaps we can all put our heads together and pull together an article on the K&A images of the western campaigns.Daryl Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02344555471191918510noreply@blogger.com