Sat Feb 11 2012
The artistry of Robert Burns Wilson captures the splendor and visible power of nature in Kentucky. The creativity that flowed through his paintbrush and his pen is often overlooked. Wilson became referred to as “Kentucky’s Poet” or the “Poet of the Bluegrass.”
He was an active member of society and befriended many of the prominent families here in Frankfort. One of his dear friends was Mary Mason Scott, the last resident of Liberty Hall and the great-granddaughter of Sen. John Brown. Liberty Hall Historic Site owns 12 Robert Burns Wilson paintings as well as several sonnets and poems written by him for Mary Mason Scott. These pieces will be the focus of Liberty Hall’s annual February Teas this year.
From orphan to artist
Robert Burns Wilson was born on Oct. 30, 1850 in Pennsylvania. His father, Thomas M. Wilson, was a builder and architect. His mother, Elizabeth Anna McLean, hailed from Hanover County Virginia. His father died while Wilson was just a boy.
Elizabeth took her son to her home back in Virginia. She died when Wilson was only 10 years old. After losing both of his parents, young Robert went to live with his maternal grandparents in Wheeling, W.Va., where he completed his elementary and secondary education.
It was during his teen years Wilson decided he wanted to become a painter. He began teaching himself while working on the side to make ends meet. When he was 19 years old, he decided to try his hand at earning a living as an artist. He traveled with the Hagenbeck Circus for over a year in order to study the anatomy of animals and how to paint them. Wilson particularly enjoyed painting lions.
Journey to Kentucky
In 1871, Wilson settled in Pittsburgh where he focused on art. He became friends with another aspiring young artist, John W. Alexander. Alexander would go on to become a celebrated painter in New York and many other eastern states. The two young men shared both a studio and a passion for painting.
Full of energy and enthusiasm for their art, they bought a canoe and journeyed down the Ohio River towards Louisville. Both men were inspired by their experiences along the river and sketched what they saw. However, being in a canoe together day in and day out brought up differences between the artists. Wilson’s obituary states that “their boat was wrecked near Paducah” and that Alexander left to go to New York while Wilson stayed in Kentucky.
Wilson continued his journey and eventually stopped in Union Count where he spent about a year taking on any job he could. He soon found a local artist that gave him work in the artists’ studio. While working in the studio, Wilson examined nature and began to paint landscapes.
The artist mentored Wilson who proceeded to attract an increasing amount of attention for his work. Wilson moved to Louisville where he completed a portrait done in crayon of Henry Watterson, the editor of the Courier-Journal. This portrait made Wilson a local celebrity, and he began to receive requests for other portraits to be done.
Frankfort’s resident artist
It was in 1875 that two Frankfort men, Samuel I. M. Major and Edward Hensley, convinced Wilson to come to Frankfort where work would await the young artist. Wilson made his home and studio in the Hanna House located at Second and Conway Streets.
Wilson was a tall, handsome, and social young man who quickly became a friend to the important and cultured Frankfort families. He was a lively character who could make a room of people laugh with his stories and impersonations.
Wilson received several commissions for portraits. As a new resident to Frankfort, he completed portraits of Mrs. Laura Hensley Torrance, James Arnold, Samuel I.M. Major, Mrs. Prudence Blackburn Hunt, Belle Hensley, and the children of A. J. A. Alexander of Woodburn Farm in Woodford County.
He also painted complementary watercolor portraits of Anne Hord Brown and Mary Watts Brown as young girls that hang in the hallway of the Orlando Brown House.
After spending his first few years in Frankfort creating portraits, Wilson’s best work was done when he painted scenes around Frankfort and along the Kentucky River. He loved depicting the misty and hazy landscapes. These paintings have blue tones that disguise rough and uninviting natural details.
Wilson loved these paintings, and he only sold them when he absolutely needed to. He never worked to make a significant profit on his art, and he was quite content doing so. These early landscapes received much praise when they were displayed in art exhibitions in New Orleans and Louisville. This was the start of his rise to fame on a national scale.
From painting to poetry
What makes Robert Burns Wilson a true artist is his ability not only to visually describe a scene through the use of paints but also to illustrate the same emotions and impressions through words. The date in which Wilson began dabbling with poetry is unknown.
Ten years after his move to Frankfort, Wilson’s “When Night Cometh On” appeared in “Harper’s Magazine” in October 1885. He had a natural talent for poetry, and his work was published in newspapers and magazines nationwide.
In 1887, Wilson compiled his first collection of poems in a 268-page volume titled “Life and Love.” In 1894, his second volume, “Chant of a Woodland Spirit,” was published and dedicated to his Frankfort friend, John Fox, Jr.
Wilson’s last book of poetry, “The Shadows of the Trees,” was published in 1898. His poetry is generally romantic in the sense that he embraces nature and its relationship to him. Frankfort not only inspired Wilson to write poetry about the landscape and seasons, but his experiences here inspired him to write a book, “Until the Day Break,” based on the places and people he knew so well in this town.
Wilson received national attention when his poem “Remember the Maine” was printed on the front page of the New York Herald on April 17, 1898. He wrote the poem in Frankfort just days after the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor.
Wilson described his emotions regarding the event in a letter to his friend, John Fox: “I have worried myself half sick a dozen times over that Cuban hell. I feel that I have been through it all and I have in spirit. The dreadful heat and fatigue. The dreary and horrible realities of it all.”
Soon, the patriotic poem was set to music. It rallied the nation and became the battle song for the United States during the Spanish-American War. Wilson sold his work, and it seems that he never tried to create a follow up poem or work as a commercial poet.
Wilson’s marriage
The women of Frankfort enjoyed entertaining and socializing with the handsome Wilson. He courted a number of ladies in town including Elizabeth Pepper and Belle Hensley, but his relationships never seemed to fully blossom due likely to his status as a starving artist.
One of the young ladies he courted was Ann Hendrick. Ann was the daughter of the ex-Attorney General of Kentucky, W.J. Hendrick. The Hendricks’ home was located on the Versailles Pike outside of Frankfort. Ann was described as “attractive and temperamental.”
Finally, in March of 1901, Wilson married to Ann Hendrick. Wilson was 50 years old and his young bride was 20 years old. Following their wedding ceremony, the newlyweds spent some time with Ann’s parents in New York before moving back to Frankfort.
They settled into a couple rooms in a house located on West Fourth Street. It was there that Robert and Ann Wilson’s only daughter was born on Nov. 28, 1902. Her name was Ann Elizabeth Wilson.
Wilson worked hard to continue his living as an artist to support his family, but his work with a paint brush and pen was not enough to support his family of three in Frankfort. Wilson’s talent and creativity became increasingly overshadowed by financial burdens.
His future as a painter-poet in Kentucky was uncertain, and work was no longer guaranteed. He soon realized that Frankfort was no longer the place to be in order to be a successful painter and a supportive provider for his family.
From Kentucky to New York
In 1904, a local newspaper reported on Robert Burns Wilson’s decision to move to New York:
“Mr. Wilson’s decision to leave Kentucky is not the result of any sudden impulse. His personal friends and his admirers have long urged it upon him that a man of his talents should not remained buried in a little Southern town that can afford buy a very limited market for his pictures, and, reluctantly, the artist decided to exile himself from the land of his adoption.”
It was thought that New York would be the most appropriate place for Wilson to make a living. It was the home of some of the best artists of the time as well as the patrons of American art. Wilson, along with his wife and young daughter, settled in Brooklyn. Sadly, New York was not much better to him than Kentucky had been in regards of making sales of his art and poetry.
Wilson’s daughter, Ann, was one source of joy during his struggles in New York. Wilson allegedly said to a friend, “Oh, if I only had my Kentucky hills to inspire me, I could do better work in both writing and painting.”
On Oct. 29, 1916, Wilson suffered a heart attack. He became ill and was placed in St. John’s Hospital in Brooklyn. He died there on March 31, 1916. Funeral services were held in New York. One of Wilson’s last requests was that he be buried in Kentucky.
Wilson’s friend, the Rev. Alexander Hensley, was a fellow Kentuckian and had a church in New York at the time. Hensley accompanied Wilson’s remains by train back to Frankfort. A funeral took place in the Frankfort Cemetery chapel and Kentucky’s poet was then laid to rest. His grave is near Daniel Boone’s, overlooking the city that he made his adoptive home.
February Teas Info
February Teas at the Orlando Brown House are planned for noon Feb. 5-6, 12-13. High Teas are set for 3:30 p.m. Feb. 5 and 12. The cost for the noon events, which includes lunch, is $22 for the public and $20 for members. The afternoon High Teas featuring sweet and savory breads and a sampling of teas are $15 and $13. For reservations call 227-2560.
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