The Long Hunters Discover Daniel Boone (mural study, Bowling Greene, Kentucky Post Office)

Edward Laning, The Long Hunters Discover Daniel Boone (mural study, Bowling Greene, Kentucky Post Office), ca. 1941, pencil, pen and ink, carbon pencil, sanguine ink wash, and Chinese white..., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Mary Fife Laning, 1984.88.6
Edward Laning, The Long Hunters Discover Daniel Boone (mural study, Bowling Greene, Kentucky Post Office), ca. 1941, pencil, pen and ink, carbon pencil, sanguine ink wash, and Chinese white..., sheet: 15 3814 34 in. (38.937.5 cm) irregular, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Mary Fife Laning, 1984.88.6

Artwork Details

Title
The Long Hunters Discover Daniel Boone (mural study, Bowling Greene, Kentucky Post Office)
Date
ca. 1941
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 15 3814 34 in. (38.937.5 cm) irregular
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Mary Fife Laning
Mediums Description
pencil, pen and ink, carbon pencil, sanguine ink wash, and Chinese white...
Classifications
Subjects
  • Portrait male — Boone, Daniel
  • New Deal — Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture — Kentucky
  • Landscape — Kentucky — Bowling Green
  • Study — mural study
  • State of being — other — sleep
  • Figure group
  • History — United States — westward expansion
Object Number
1984.88.6

Artwork Description

Laning corresponded with various people in Bowling Green about possible subject matter for his mural, and the local newspaper solicited ideas from its readers. From the many suggestions he received, Laning worked out two proposals. Locomotive Study shows the city's first locomotive, which was brought by steamboat and hauled up the river bank by ox-teams. Laning included in the composition a bowling scene, as well as the tobacco and strawberry plants suggested by a local citizen.

His second idea, which was chosen for execution, featured a story about Kentucky's native son, Daniel Boone. He explained the tale as follows: "The 'Long Hunters' (so named for their prolonged stay in the wilderness) were alarmed one day by a strange sound in the forest. Veteran woodsmen though they were, the Long Hunters admitted they had never heard anything that remotely resembled it.... As one man [they] reached for their long rifles; and Casper Mansker, already famous as a woodsman, slipped silently off to investigate.... Gripping his loaded rifle, Mansker dodged from tree to tree--and came upon Daniel Boonie lying flat on his back on an outspread deerskin, all alone and singing cheerfully to himself. Indians or no Indians, Daniel felt happy that day; and like most men who lived much alone, he had a habit of singing and whistling to himself."

Although a few citizens critisized the mural as insufficiently serious in theme, an article in the Bowling Green Daily News praised the painting for its local character and national historical significance.

Special Delivery: Murals for the New Deal Era, 1988

Works by this artist (16 items)

Mark Tobey, Evocation, 1970, aquatint, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1973.3
Evocation
Date1970
aquatint
Not on view
Mark Tobey, Untitled (Standing Figure), 1965, color lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1968.83
Untitled (Standing Figure)
Date1965
color lithograph on paper
Not on view
Mark Tobey, Fish Market (Seattle Market Scene Sketch), 1943, gouache on paper mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Robert Tyler Davis, 1978.94.1
Fish Market (Seattle Market Scene Sketch)
Date1943
gouache on paper mounted on paperboard
Not on view
Mark Tobey, (Homage to Tobey, portfolio) The Grand Parade, 1974, color lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1974.43.2
(Homage to Tobey, portfolio) The Grand Parade
Date1974
color lithograph on paper
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Hyman Bloom, The Beggar, 1956, casein on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.8
The Beggar
Date1956
casein on paper
Not on view
Gertrude Goodrich, Production (mural study, Buchanan, Michigan Post Office), 1941, casein on paperboard mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1974.28.94
Production (mural study, Buchanan, Michigan Post Office)
Date1941
casein on paperboard mounted on paperboard
Not on view
Paul Cadmus, Preliminary sketch for Subway Symphony, 1973, pencil, casein, crayon, and chalk on paper mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.88
Preliminary sketch for Subway Symphony
Date1973
pencil, casein, crayon, and chalk on paper mounted on paperboard
Not on view
Paul Cadmus, Green Still Life, 1954, casein, crayon, and pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1985.30.9
Green Still Life
Date1954
casein, crayon, and pencil on paper
Not on view