The Wyeth Sycamore
The Last Days
by George Sterling
The russet leaves of the sycamore
Lie at last on the valley floor—
By the autumn wind swept to and fro
Like ghosts in a tale of long ago.
Shallow and dear the Carmel glides
Where the willows droop on its vine-walled sides.
The bracken-rust is red on the hill;
The pines stand brooding, somber and still;
Gray are the cliffs, and the waters gray,
Where the seagulls dip to the sea-born spray.
Sad November, lady of rain,
Sends the goose-wedge over again.
Wilder now, for the verdure’s birth,
Falls the sunlight over the earth;
Kildees call from the fields where now
The banding blackbirds follow the plow;
Rustling poplar and brittle weed
Whisper low to the river-reed.
Days departing linger and sigh:
Stars come soon to the quiet sky;
Buried voices, intimate, strange,
Cry to body and soul of change;
Beauty, eternal fugitive,
Seeks the home that we cannot give.
-----
I'm sure that the Eisenhower's wonderful sycamore tree has caught the eye of many, as it did for American artist Andrew Wyeth. Wyeth spent five days at the Gettysburg farm to work on a portrait for the September 7, 1959 edition of Time magazine.
According to Richard Meryman's book, Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life, Eisenhower was only accessible to Wyeth in short segments due to his preparations for an important trip to Europe. A quote from the book notes the artist's recollection:
"He'd look out there, and I'd take my brush and lean down to work on the picture, and I'd look up and here was his bald head peering right at me. A little disconcerting to say the least. I was very depressed. I wanted to tear it up."
Wyeth also noted that he finally had an important moment on the last day, when Eisenhower moved his head to view a passing Secret Service agent, and the light hit his head in a new way. (Great photographers also speak of light as the key to any photograph.)
While at the farm, the artist worked on a painting of the sycamore photographed above. The Eisenhower National Historic Site's Supervisory Historian, Carol Hegeman, was kind enough to tell me more about the artwork.
Mary Landa, the representative for the Wyeth estate, explains that the work is entitled At Home, and the original now resides with the Eisenhower family. Copies exist at the Eisenhower library in Kansas and at the Gettysburg farm. When Wyeth gave the work to Eisenhower, it was hung in his office at the Gettysburg College where he wrote his autobiography.
Thanks to Ms. Hegeman for her help in learning more about the beautiful sycamore, and the work it inspired.
Links:
Eisenhower Time cover by Andrew Wyeth
Sunday, October 26, 2008
