 #313. Oil on masonite, 9.5 x 12, Vol. 1 p. 19 |
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PORTRAITS | |
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LATIN |
In the course of completing over 350 paintings for The Golden Books series, Tobey dealt with many subjects in the course of the history of the American continent. The images below are of some of the original paintings for the series, that are part of the artist's personal collection, and which can now be viewed on this website.
TO VIEW ANY OF THE IMAGES ON THIS PAGE IN A LARGER SIZE, JUST CLICK ON THE IMAGE. THEN USE YOUR BROWSER'S "BACK" BUTTON TO RETURN TO THIS PAGE. PAINTINGS FROM VOL 1 - 4 The first paintings for the series took their subject matter from the history of the early explorers of the New World and their experiences with the natives they encountered there.
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#313. Oil on masonite, 9.5 x 12, Vol. 1 p. 19 |
Indian life along the Hudson Valley was simple but happy before the white man's arrival on the North American continent.
 Indian Life Along The Hudson Valley #317. Oil on masonite 8 x 16, Vol. 1 p.45 |
When the explorers arrived, they encountered Native Americans, whom they called Indians. Their experiences with them ranged from cordial, such as Columbus' visitation to Watling Island in the Bahamas (below left) to outright hostility, as was French explorer Samuel de Champlain's experience, which resulted in a massacre of the natives (below right).
 # 104. Oil on wood panel 9.5 x 22 Vol. 1 p. 16-17 |
 #468. Oil on plywood 16 x 11 Vol.1 p. 53 |
Over the years, as the settlers occupied lands owned by the native tribes, greater hostility grew between the newcomers and the occupants of the lands they had discovered. This continued and grew worse through Revolutionary times.
 #736. Oil on canvas 12 x 12 Vol.2 p. 131 |
 #867. Oil on canvasboard 18 x 24 Vol. 4 p. 312-313 |
 #705. Oil/Masonite 13 x 11, V.2 p160-1 |
The hostility was so intense that in May of 1889, reports of even a new religion based upon the messianic principles of Christianity spread among the native Americans, called the "Ghost Dance" religion. Instead of the return of Christ, it prophesized a visitation by a native American messiah who was going to restore the lands that had been taken by the white man to their rightful owners.
 #395. Oil on canvas/Plywood, 16 x 11 Vol. 7 p. 552 |
Despite their ongoing difficulties with the natives; the early settlers survived their hardships, and men colonizing Jamestown (below right) rejoiced in 1619 when a ship arrived bearing English wives. On ships out at sea, a man rescued from the sea was considered a good omen (bottom left). The expansive beauty of the new lands and waters that were being discovered surpassed the beauty of anything that had been seen in the Old World, such as the vistas observed by Marquette & Joliet on their exploratory journeys.
 The Margarette #778. Oil on masonite 11 x 11 Vol. 3 p. 247 |
 #827. Oil on masonite, 8.25 x 10.25 Vol.1 p. 43 |
 #755. Oil on masonite 15.25 x 20.75 Vol. 1 p. 56-57 |
 #316. Acrylic on wood panel, 8.25 x 16 Vol. 1 p.84-85 |
Along with constant threats from the natives, and from pirates who would loot both coastal trade between the colonies and ships from the Old World bearing supplies(below right), one would think that the colonists already had enough problems. But soon they would have to ready themselves for battle with the advent of the War for Independence as well. Battles took place in the same thickets (below left), where Virginian settlers needed to feld many great trees to clear the land to build homes and farms (center).
 #771. Oil on canvasboard 16.5 x 22.75 Vol. 2 p.128-129 |
 #338. Oil on canvasboard 17.5 x 12 Vol.2 p. 103 |
 #315. Oil on Masonite 8.25 x 11 Vol. 2 p. 114 |
The Revolutionary War took a tremendous toll on the settlers. British troops open up heavy bombardments on entrenchments at Charleston (below left), Washington landed at Trenton in sleet and freezing rain (below center), and British Redcoats attacked and mocked the rebel militia continually. (below right)
 #739. Oil on canvasboard 15 x 11 Vol. 3 p.255 |
 #737. Oil on masonite 10.5 x 12 Vol 3 p.227 |
 #859. Oil on canvasboard 13 x 10 |
One of George Washinton's guards tried to poison his food (below left), but he finally endured, took the oath of office and becomes the nation's first President on April 30, 1789; in New York City (below center). The new nation had many problems to face, and its leaders often disagreed on solutions to the new country's challenges. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were only two of the founders who disagreed on how the new nation should be managed.
 A Poisoning Attempt #770. Oil on canvasboard 8.5 x 16.5 Vol. 3 p. 214-215 |
 #505. Oil on canvas 17.5 x 13.5 Vol.4 p. 291 |
 #614. Oil on canvasboard 11 x 18 Vol.4 p.292-293 |
In February of 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected head of the Confederacy (below left), a serious blow to the integrity of the new republic. On the Sunday following Lincoln's death (Black Easter), Johnson becomes President and Radical Republicans urge him to give up Lincoln's "soft" policy toward the South (below right). This heralded the beginning of what was to be the Civil War.
 #777. Oil on canvas 8.25 x 16 Vol. 5 p.386 |
 #306. Oil on canvas 15.25 x 19.5 Vol. 6 p. 458-459 |
Soon later, this and other new wars plagued the young nation -- the Spanish American War, the War of 1812, The Mexican Conflict and others. In a scene from one of them, the Rough Riders are seen charging up San Juan Hill by foot despite the fact they were a calvalry unit, because the terrain was too difficult for horses. Only Teddy Roosevelt (below) was mounted, even though this made him an easy target for Spanish gunfire.
 #103. Oil on panel 18.5 x 26.5 Vol.7 p. 570-571 Collection of the National Museum of American Illustration, Newport, RI |
As the government stabilized and prospered after dealing with many conflicts, William H. Taft (below left) was the first President to play golf while in office. John Quincy Adams (below right), considered by many to be the real author of the Monroe Doctrine, was a hard headed, quick-witted Secretary of State who was elected president.
In The Golden Books History paintings, Tobey probably painted portraits of every President of the United States and other important military and political leaders in our country's history. As acquainted as he was with American historical figures from the past, a few years later he did a series of formal portraits of the first 36 U.S. Presidents. These portraits can be seen all together on Tobey's Presidents' Page on this website. After visiting that page, you can return here by either using your browser's "back" button or by using the navigation links at the bottom of the Presidents' Page.
 #106. Oil on board 7.5 x 15.5 Vol.7 p.599 |
 #863. Oil on canvasboard 18 x 14 Vol.4 p.337 |
Memories of past wars were captured in vivid images for the pages of The Golden Books, and these paintings were perhaps the most powerful of Tobey's creations for the series. The ones on this page (others can be seen on the first Golden Books page) include his two reenactments of The Battle of Gettysburg (below left, top and bottom); Americans defending The Alamo (below top right); and U.S. forces boldly facing British troops in An 1812 War Battle (below bottom right).
 #312. Oil on canvas board 15 x 11 Vol. 5 p.429 |
 #326. Oil on canvas 18 x 24 Vol. 4 p. 344-345 |
 #461. Oil on canvas board 19 x 27 Vol. 5 coverpage |
 #738. Oil on canvas board 12 x 16 Vol. 4 p.319 |
Travels and battles on the seas were a great part of American History. In these paintings, Tobey recreates some of these scenes. Almost all of the The North American ocean coastline was a veritable battleground in 1862. The Monitor met the Merrimack (the first iron-clad battleships ever made) in battle at Hampton roads, Virginia, on March 9 and pummeled it with Ericsson's revolving gun turret (below left, top). In a daring maneuver, Admiral David Farragut sailed his fleet into Mobile Bay under Confederate guns (below right, top). War was averted in Samoa by an equally destructive hurricane which damaged ships (below left & right).
 #862. Oil on masonite 17 x 17 Vol.5 p.406 |
 #413. Oil on canvas board 14.5 x 22 Vol.5 p.440-441 |
 #336. Oil on canvas board 9 x 16.5 Vol.6 p.537 |
 #779. Oil on masonite 11 x 8 Vol.6 p.535 |
One of the greatest achievements in America in the 19th century was the completion of land trails and railroads linking the East to the West. Laying tracks and Completing the Railroad was a punishing job for workers, (below left) but it was necessary for Western growth. The Chisholm Trail (below right), one of the most famous cattle trails, ran from the Red River in Texas for more than seven hundred miles to Abilene, Kansas. These pioneering paths would later become the great interstate highways and rail networks of the 20th century.
 #166. Oil on canvas 18 x 26 Vol.6 p.478-479 |
 #515. Oil on canvas board 17.25 x 25.5 Vol.6 p.486-487 |
Tobey's paintings focus on hundreds of important events in the history of the country, such as the Dedication of Lady Liberty in 1886 (below left); and in a scene of a March for Suffrage, with this painting of women in a demonstration, demanding voting rights (below right).
 #772. Oil on canvasboard 18 x 17.25 Vol.6 p.530-531 |
 #723. Oil on canvasboard 7 x 9.5 Vol.7 p.614 |
In his paintings for the series Tobey took aim at and immortalized political events and hard-hitting news stories from American history; such as these painting of Harding Campaigning (below left), which the candidate did mostly from the front porch of his home in Marion, Ohio; and in Tobey's painting of The Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago.
 #418. Oil on canvas board 16 x 12 Vol.8 p.671 |
 #386. Oil on canvas board 16 x 22.5 Vol.8 p.682-683 |
The horrors of modern warfare didn't escape the artist's brush. Toward the end of the war, the Germans sent buzz bombs - unmanned rockets with warheads - over London in attacks called The Blitz (below left). German Stuka Dive Bombers fly over Europe (center) as Americans debate whether or not to stay neutral. Carrying a force equal to more than 20,000 tons of TNT, The Hiroshima Bomb (below right) nearly wiped out the entire city.
 #834. Oil/cvsbd 18 x 14 Vol.9 p.789 |
 #404. Oil/cvsbd 15.5 x 21.5 Vol.9 p.728-729 |
 #482. Oil/cvsbd 18 x 24 Vol.9 p.800-801 |
An Allied Ivasion Sweeps North Africa, with support from American forces under Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Japan Invades The Philippines (below right).
 #508. Oil on canvasboard 17 x 23 Vol.9 p.766-767 |
 #406. Oil on canvasboard 18 x 24 Vol.9 p.744-745 |
The late 19th and early 20th Century was America's greatest period of industrial development, with innovative discoveries in energy, manufacturing and technology being made every day. The boom ended however, on Thursday, October 24, 1929. The stock market collapsed, and a panic occurred on Wall Street, plummeting the country into a severe economic depression.
 #399. Oil on canvasboard 14 x 17 |
 #832. Oil on canvasboard 18 x 24 Vol. 8 p. 696-697 |
Along with what was basically a history of America that dealth in great part with wars, conflicts and violence, many of Tobey's paintings for the series were more tranquil; as was his own personal nature, with scenes such as these: stunning water bodies of the Western continents, including Quebec overlooking the Saint Lawrence river (below left), and the Panama Canal.
 #714. Oil on masonite 9 x 21 Vol.2 p.154 |
 #857. Oil on canvasboard 16 x 22.5 Vol.7 p.606-607 |