Prayer in Stonewall Jackson's camp
Dr. Adalbert Volck lead a most interesting life.
A trained dentist, Volck plied his profession in Baltimore during the mid-19th century.
But the good dentist also had some intriguing sidelines.
As a Southern loyalist during the Civil War, he operated a safe house for rebel soldiers and agents, smuggled medical supplies to the South, and even served as a personal courier for Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
Above all though, he loved to skewer President Abraham Lincoln in his artwork.
Volck's strong passion for the South and enmity toward all things Yankee come into sharp focus with a rare exhibition of his drawings at the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery.
"The Confederate Sketches of Adalbert Volck" features 20 etchings and lithographs selected by Portrait Gallery Historian James Barber, and drawn from the Portrait Gallery's collection.
Born in Bavaria, Germany, on April 14, 1828, Volck emigrated to the United States in 1848 after he sided with revolutionaries during a failed revolt. He eventually settled in Baltimore and enrolled in the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, where he earned his D.D.S. in 1852.
Volck sympathized with the Confederacy after Civil War erupted in 1861. A talented artist as well as proficient dentist, he brought his creative skills to bear for the Southern war effort.
Upset by how Northern illustrators derided the South in print, Volck launched a clandestine artistic counterattack, producing works for a limited number of subscribers under the alias "V. Blada."
Volck chronicled several aspects of the rebel cause in his drawings.
But it was Lincoln who drew his particular attention and ire.
More @ The Telegraph
No comments:
Post a Comment