GENERAL DESCRIPTION
William Tylee Ranney celebrates the exuberance of the end of battle in this lively scene of Revolutionary War veterans returning home to take up their lives in a new republic. More recent events also mark this canvas; the United States' War with Mexico from 1846 to 1848 was the nation's first foreign conflict since the Revolution and prompted a remarkably high level of patriotic fervor linking the two wars. In paintings, books, and songs, parallels were drawn between the wars of 1776 and 1846, inspired undoubtedly by hopes that this war would turn out as well as the last. By February 1848 fighting had ceased; however, the United States waited until July 4, 1848 to declare the War officially over.
In Veterans of 1776 Returning from the War, Ranney took great care to weave together allusions to both conflicts. Painted at the close of the war and exhibited in June 1848, the painting marks the jubilation and relief felt by the entire country. The former soldiers' cart bears the names of five major Revolutionary War battles: Bunker Hill, Trenton, Monmouth, Saratoga, and Yorktown. Their horse, however, bears a U.S. brand obviously not in use during the revolution, but which did appear on Army remounts in 1846. Ranney's audience would have noticed this subtle blending of past and present and appreciated the reference to both wars.
North Carolinian Ranney had firsthand experience of a different war with Mexico. In 1836, just days after the fall of the Alamo, Ranney traveled to New Orleans to enlist in the army of the Republic of Texas. After serving as paymaster for a year, he returned to the northeast, where he established himself as an artist in New York and New Jersey. In this painting his particular brand of history painting might best be termed anecdotal, in which the subject is the anonymous common man rather than identifiable historical figures. The artist paints the incidents of daily life, linked to specific historic circumstances. The volunteers, who formed the backbone of the armies of both 1776 and 1846 are here celebrated for their patriotism rather than their exploits; Ranney has chosen to express the celebration of their return to private life rather than present the gory climax of victorious battle to make his point.
Adapted from
- DMA electronic record (1982.35), nd.
- Eleanor Jones Harvey, "William Tylee Ranney's 'Veterans of 1776 Returning from the War,'" in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Charles Venable (New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press, 1997), 227.
- William Keyse Rudolph, DMA Label copy (1981.40), May 2006.
NOTES
Reviewed the education file on Ranney- has good photocopies of research; these should be compared with research in the object file and copies should be made if needed.
Reviewed the object file- did not read the research, correspondence, or confidential files in depth to see if dates could be found for the provenance.
Reformatted and completed citations for existing text entries.
Moved collection guide essay from "curatorial remarks" to text entries.
Archived existing label/public notes as a text entry.
Added new text entries for labels or publication entries found in object file or education file.
Added pub reference- "The Fine Arts/ The American Art-Union/ Third Notice," The Home Journal (New York), Saturday, November 25, 1848, unpaginated.
Added figure number to the biblio record for NCMA Bulletin, Vol XVI, 1993, fig. 6, page 8.
Added information to bibliographic entry- Grubar, Francis S. William Ranney- Painter of the Early West, 1962, page 30, no. 29, (as location unknown)
Added former titles- Revolutionary Hero's Return; American Revolutionary hero's Return; Reutrn of Revolutionary Veterans. (Source- Francis S. Grubar, William Ranney: Painter of the Early West (New York: The Corcoran Gallery of Art with C.N. Potter, 1962), 30.)
Exh history text field:
ADDED INFORMATION IN PURPLE TO TMS- source- Bantel, Linda and Peter H. Hassrick, Kathleen Luhrs ed., Forging an American Identity: The Art of William Ranney with a Catalogue of His Works. Cody, Wyoming: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 2006. cat no. 37, pp 47-48.
- 1848: "American Art Union", American Art Union, New York, November 25, 1848, no. 110.
- 1851: "Twenty–Eighth Annual Exhibition", The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, no. 169, (lent by H. Earl)
- 1864: "Great Central Fair", Logan Square, Philadelphia, for the benefit of the United States Sanitary Commission, Philadelphia, no. 134, (as lent by H. Paul Beck)
- 1865: "Untitled exhibition", The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, no. 606, (as lent by H. P. Beck)
- 1866: "Untitled exhibition", The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, no. 516, (as lent by H. P. Beck)
- 1962–1963: "William Ranney : Painter of the Early West", The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, November 27, 1962–January 01, 1963; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, January 11–March 28, 1963 cat. no. 29, p. 30 (as location unknown)
- Note- Steven Nash's acquisition proposal says, "Interestingly enough, his work was shown at a traveling exhibition at the Dallas Museum in 1962, although this particular painting did not appear."
- 1976: "In This Academy: The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts", The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, April 22–December 31, 1976, no. 143, pp. 101, 112, illus. p. 113, 292. (as Return of Revolutionary Veterans, Collection of Mrs. William H.S. Wells)
- 1977: "A Gallery Collects", Hirschl & Adler Galleries Inc., New York, (not shown in Bantel, Linda and Peter H. Hassrick, Kathleen Luhrs ed., Forging an American Identity: The Art of William Ranney with a Catalogue of His Works. Cody, Wyoming: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 2006. cat no. 37, pp 47-48.)
- 1978: "American Genre Painting in the Victorian Era", Hirschl & Adler Galleries Inc., New York, April 8–May 06, 1978, (not shown in Bantel, Linda and Peter H. Hassrick, Kathleen Luhrs ed., Forging an American Identity: The Art of William Ranney with a Catalogue of His Works. Cody, Wyoming: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 2006. cat no. 37, pp 47-48.)
REFERENCES- long list given in the cat. p. 47. Needs to be entered into TMS published references or bibliographic module.
- Multiple catalogues include quotes from published references- New York Weekly Evening Post (a note added to the TMS bibliographic record stating that multiple sources located this publication to NYC rather than Philadelphia, which is what is entered in TMS); and the Art-Union Bulletin- which does not appear in the TMS record (either in the text fields or in the bibliographic module)-- no specific information on this publication was added.
- Library add this bibliographic reference in the future? (Exhibition record exists (William Ranney: An American Artist), although the exhibition title differs from the publication?)
- 2006-2007: Forging an American Identity: The Art of William Ranney, Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming, May 13-August 14, 2006; Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, September 29, 2006- January 1, 2007; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, February 10- May 13, 2007; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 23- August 26, 2007. Indicated as having been in the exhibition but catalogue does not indicate if it went to all locations. Exh cat infor- cat no. 37, pp 47-48, color illus. p 47.
Added dates and goegraphies for artist:
- birth- Middletown, CT
- death- Union City, NJ (then known as West Hobken)
- raised in- Fayetteville, NC
- trained- 1833-1836- Brooklyn
- worked- 1836- New Orleans- enlisted in Texas Army
- worked- 1836- Texas- Acted as regimental paymaster in Captain C.A.W. Fowler's First Regiment of Volunteers during the Texas Revolution. Located primarily near West Columbia, Texas.
- worked- Brooklyn- (1837-1839) Returned to New York City after Texas and exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1838. Dates of departure unknown but may have left for North Carolina between 1839-1842.
- worked- North Carolina (?)- 1839-1842- Likely traveled between North Carolina and New York and possibly Texas during this time.
- worked- NYC- 1843
- worked- Weehawken, NJ- 1847
- Worked- NYC- 1850
- worked- Union City, NJ- 1853- d. 1857- then known as West Hobken
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin- Weehawken, NJ (?) Artist resided in Weehawken, New Jersey in 1847 and was married in New York City in 1848. Definitely lived in New York City for a period in 1850. Exact location when painting this work unclear.
Place of origin- New York City (?) Artist resided in Weehawken, New Jersey in 1847 and was married in New York City in 1848. Definitely lived in New York City for a period in 1850. Exact location when painting this work unclear.
Tag- Bunker Hill
Tag- Shenton
Tag- Monmaut (sp?)
Tag- Saratoga
Tag- Yorktown
Process/materials
oil paint
canvas
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
figures
history painting
landscape
horse
cart
sky
clouds
soldiers
veterans
walking
horseback riding
horizon line
cocked hats
coats
uniform
carving
lettering
hay
rifles (long guns)
barefeet
kettle
music
fiddle
travel
travelers
sword
sash
buttons
red
yellow
blue
Revolution
War
wagon
wheels
beard
hills
paths
battlefields
battles
brand (horse)
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
1848: American Art-Union, New York, New York, from the artist
1848: William E. Remsen, Syosset, New York, distributed by lottery from the above
By 1851: Harrison Earl, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
By 1864: Henry Paul Beck, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
By 1976: Mrs. William H.S. Wells, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
By 1977: Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, New York
From 1981: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas, purchased from the above [1]
Notes: The main source for this provenance is Linda Bantel and Peter H. Hassrick, Kathleen Luhrs eds., "Forging an American Identity: The Art of William Ranney with a Catalogue of His Works," (Cody, Wyoming: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 2006), 47-48, cat no. 37.
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- William Tylee Ranney~Read Linda Ayres's biography of the artist on Texas State Historical Association's Handbook of Texas.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- The artist's brief military service in Texas is reflected in both the subjects he chose to paint and the collections where his work is represented. Several other major paintings by William Tylee Ranney are in Texas, at the Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, and the Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas at Austin.
- The date of this work also has international parallels. In 1848, a year in which revolutions rocked Europe, paintings such as this celebrated America's stability as a republic and its influence upon the formation of other nation-states.
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1981.40
Category
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General Description
William Tylee Ranney celebrates the exuberance of the end of battle in this lively scene of Revolutionary War veterans returning home to take up their lives in a new republic. More recent events also mark this canvas; the United States' War with Mexico from 1846 to 1848 was the nation's first foreign conflict since the Revolution and prompted a remarkably high level of patriotic fervor linking the two wars. In paintings, books, and songs, parallels were drawn between the wars of 1776 and 1846, inspired undoubtedly by hopes that this war would turn out as well as the last. By February 1848 fighting had ceased; however, the United States waited until July 4, 1848 to declare the War officially over.
In Veterans of 1776 Returning from the War, Ranney took great care to weave together allusions to both conflicts. Painted at the close of the war and exhibited in June 1848, the painting marks the jubilation and relief felt by the entire country. The former soldiers' cart bears the names of five major Revolutionary War battles: Bunker Hill, Trenton, Monmouth, Saratoga, and Yorktown. Their horse, however, bears a U.S. brand obviously not in use during the revolution, but which did appear on Army remounts in 1846. Ranney's audience would have noticed this subtle blending of past and present and appreciated the reference to both wars.
North Carolinian Ranney had firsthand experience of a different war with Mexico. In 1836, just days after the fall of the Alamo, Ranney traveled to New Orleans to enlist in the army of the Republic of Texas. After serving as paymaster for a year, he returned to the northeast, where he established himself as an artist in New York and New Jersey. In this painting his particular brand of history painting might best be termed anecdotal, in which the subject is the anonymous common man rather than identifiable historical figures. The artist paints the incidents of daily life, linked to specific historic circumstances. The volunteers, who formed the backbone of the armies of both 1776 and 1846 are here celebrated for their patriotism rather than their exploits; Ranney has chosen to express the celebration of their return to private life rather than present the gory climax of victorious battle to make his point.
Adapted from
- DMA electronic record (1982.35), nd.
- Eleanor Jones Harvey, "William Tylee Ranney's 'Veterans of 1776 Returning from the War,'" in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Charles Venable (New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press, 1997), 227.
- William Keyse Rudolph, DMA Label copy (1981.40), May 2006.
Fun Facts
- The artist's brief military service in Texas is reflected in both the subjects he chose to paint and the collections where his work is represented. Several other major paintings by William Tylee Ranney are in Texas, at the Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, and the Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas at Austin.
- The date of this work also has international parallels. In 1848, a year in which revolutions rocked Europe, paintings such as this celebrated America's stability as a republic and its influence upon the formation of other nation-states.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- William Tylee Ranney~Read Linda Ayres's biography of the artist on Texas State Historical Association's Handbook of Texas.
Notes
Reviewed the education file on Ranney- has good photocopies of research; these should be compared with research in the object file and copies should be made if needed.
Reviewed the object file- did not read the research, correspondence, or confidential files in depth to see if dates could be found for the provenance.
Reformatted and completed citations for existing text entries.
Moved collection guide essay from "curatorial remarks" to text entries.
Archived existing label/public notes as a text entry.
Added new text entries for labels or publication entries found in object file or education file.
Added pub reference- "The Fine Arts/ The American Art-Union/ Third Notice," The Home Journal (New York), Saturday, November 25, 1848, unpaginated.
Added figure number to the biblio record for NCMA Bulletin, Vol XVI, 1993, fig. 6, page 8.
Added information to bibliographic entry- Grubar, Francis S. William Ranney- Painter of the Early West, 1962, page 30, no. 29, (as location unknown)
Added former titles- Revolutionary Hero's Return; American Revolutionary hero's Return; Reutrn of Revolutionary Veterans. (Source- Francis S. Grubar, William Ranney: Painter of the Early West (New York: The Corcoran Gallery of Art with C.N. Potter, 1962), 30.)
Exh history text field:
ADDED INFORMATION IN PURPLE TO TMS- source- Bantel, Linda and Peter H. Hassrick, Kathleen Luhrs ed., Forging an American Identity: The Art of William Ranney with a Catalogue of His Works. Cody, Wyoming: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 2006. cat no. 37, pp 47-48.
- 1848: "American Art Union", American Art Union, New York, November 25, 1848, no. 110.
- 1851: "Twenty–Eighth Annual Exhibition", The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, no. 169, (lent by H. Earl)
- 1864: "Great Central Fair", Logan Square, Philadelphia, for the benefit of the United States Sanitary Commission, Philadelphia, no. 134, (as lent by H. Paul Beck)
- 1865: "Untitled exhibition", The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, no. 606, (as lent by H. P. Beck)
- 1866: "Untitled exhibition", The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, no. 516, (as lent by H. P. Beck)
- 1962–1963: "William Ranney : Painter of the Early West", The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, November 27, 1962–January 01, 1963; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, January 11–March 28, 1963 cat. no. 29, p. 30 (as location unknown)
- Note- Steven Nash's acquisition proposal says, "Interestingly enough, his work was shown at a traveling exhibition at the Dallas Museum in 1962, although this particular painting did not appear."
- 1976: "In This Academy: The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts", The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, April 22–December 31, 1976, no. 143, pp. 101, 112, illus. p. 113, 292. (as Return of Revolutionary Veterans, Collection of Mrs. William H.S. Wells)
- 1977: "A Gallery Collects", Hirschl & Adler Galleries Inc., New York, (not shown in Bantel, Linda and Peter H. Hassrick, Kathleen Luhrs ed., Forging an American Identity: The Art of William Ranney with a Catalogue of His Works. Cody, Wyoming: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 2006. cat no. 37, pp 47-48.)
- 1978: "American Genre Painting in the Victorian Era", Hirschl & Adler Galleries Inc., New York, April 8–May 06, 1978, (not shown in Bantel, Linda and Peter H. Hassrick, Kathleen Luhrs ed., Forging an American Identity: The Art of William Ranney with a Catalogue of His Works. Cody, Wyoming: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 2006. cat no. 37, pp 47-48.)
REFERENCES- long list given in the cat. p. 47. Needs to be entered into TMS published references or bibliographic module.
- Multiple catalogues include quotes from published references- New York Weekly Evening Post (a note added to the TMS bibliographic record stating that multiple sources located this publication to NYC rather than Philadelphia, which is what is entered in TMS); and the Art-Union Bulletin- which does not appear in the TMS record (either in the text fields or in the bibliographic module)-- no specific information on this publication was added.
- Library add this bibliographic reference in the future? (Exhibition record exists (William Ranney: An American Artist), although the exhibition title differs from the publication?)
- 2006-2007: Forging an American Identity: The Art of William Ranney, Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming, May 13-August 14, 2006; Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, September 29, 2006- January 1, 2007; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, February 10- May 13, 2007; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 23- August 26, 2007. Indicated as having been in the exhibition but catalogue does not indicate if it went to all locations. Exh cat infor- cat no. 37, pp 47-48, color illus. p 47.
Added dates and goegraphies for artist:
- birth- Middletown, CT
- death- Union City, NJ (then known as West Hobken)
- raised in- Fayetteville, NC
- trained- 1833-1836- Brooklyn
- worked- 1836- New Orleans- enlisted in Texas Army
- worked- 1836- Texas- Acted as regimental paymaster in Captain C.A.W. Fowler's First Regiment of Volunteers during the Texas Revolution. Located primarily near West Columbia, Texas.
- worked- Brooklyn- (1837-1839) Returned to New York City after Texas and exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1838. Dates of departure unknown but may have left for North Carolina between 1839-1842.
- worked- North Carolina (?)- 1839-1842- Likely traveled between North Carolina and New York and possibly Texas during this time.
- worked- NYC- 1843
- worked- Weehawken, NJ- 1847
- Worked- NYC- 1850
- worked- Union City, NJ- 1853- d. 1857- then known as West Hobken
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin- Weehawken, NJ (?) Artist resided in Weehawken, New Jersey in 1847 and was married in New York City in 1848. Definitely lived in New York City for a period in 1850. Exact location when painting this work unclear.
Place of origin- New York City (?) Artist resided in Weehawken, New Jersey in 1847 and was married in New York City in 1848. Definitely lived in New York City for a period in 1850. Exact location when painting this work unclear.
Tag- Bunker Hill
Tag- Shenton
Tag- Monmaut (sp?)
Tag- Saratoga
Tag- Yorktown
Process/materials
oil paint
canvas
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
figures
history painting
landscape
horse
cart
sky
clouds
soldiers
veterans
walking
horseback riding
horizon line
cocked hats
coats
uniform
carving
lettering
hay
rifles (long guns)
barefeet
kettle
music
fiddle
travel
travelers
sword
sash
buttons
red
yellow
blue
Revolution
War
wagon
wheels
beard
hills
paths
battlefields
battles
brand (horse)
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
1848: American Art-Union, New York, New York, from the artist
1848: William E. Remsen, Syosset, New York, distributed by lottery from the above
By 1851: Harrison Earl, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
By 1864: Henry Paul Beck, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
By 1976: Mrs. William H.S. Wells, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
By 1977: Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, New York
From 1981: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas, purchased from the above [1]
Notes: The main source for this provenance is Linda Bantel and Peter H. Hassrick, Kathleen Luhrs eds., "Forging an American Identity: The Art of William Ranney with a Catalogue of His Works," (Cody, Wyoming: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 2006), 47-48, cat no. 37.
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
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1981.40
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