Daniel Webster
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Daniel Webster's comment in Remarks on Agriculture, Jan 13, 1840. (p.457) found its way into John Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, and from there into many discussions of rural life, agriculture, culture and the arts.
Grant Wood designed a set of mural panels for the Parks Library at Iowa State University in 1934 based on the theme "When tillage begins, other arts follow." The farmers therefore are the founders of human civilization." More information on the murals is also available here at the Iowa State University Library.
The Stone City artists colony was located in the heart of an agricultural area in eastern Iowa for the two years prior to this mural project. It too tilled the fertile minds of the participants who went on to work in many of the practical and fine arts.
We also borrow the quotation from Mr. Webster for the title of our project and hope we are tilling new ground to plant the seeds of interest in the colony and the artists.
Francis Alexander, American, 1800-1880
Daniel Webster (Black Dan) (1782-1852), Class of 1801, 1835
Oil on canvas
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth
College, Hanover, NH; Gift of Dr. George C. Shattuck, Class of 1802
P.836.3
Link to image used here with permission of the Hood Museum. The Hood Museum requires permission to copy or download images from its site. Contact the Museum Registrar with your queries.
When Tillage Begins: The Stone
City Art Colony and School
Published online October 2003 by the
Busse Library,
Mount Mercy University
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Telephone: 319-368-6465
Fax: 319-363-9060
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Researcher & Author: Kristy Raine
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