North Carolina’s
First Artist
The» story of liis |»«i i ill i n«*>* is almost as
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as John Wliili* liimsHf.
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II JULIA N. STIC KKT
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Now, when North Carolina i' so art-
conscious, anil is blessed with so many
line artists, it is pleasant to remember
that the second Caucasian artist in the
entire United States, did his best work
right here in our own state. The first
artist in the New World, excepting of
course the native Indians, was Jacques
Le Moyne, who. in the I560‘s made
drawings of the inhabitants of Honda,
but his work was not published until
after that of John White, the English-
man. who. in 1585 depicted, in color,
scenes of the North Carolina coast and
its people.
In that year— 1585— when Sir Wal¬
ter Raleigh dispatched a hundred men
under the leadership of Sir Richard
Grenville, and Ralph Lane, to colom/e
the new-found land of Virginia, he sent
with them an author and an artist to
keep records of the venture.
The writer, who was also a scientist
of note, was Thomas Hariot. whose
accounts of the colony can be read
in Explorations Descriptions ami At¬
tempted Settlements of Carolina. I5N-4-
1590 (a publication issued by the
N. C. Department of Archives and
History): and the artist was John
\N hite. who later became the governor
of the fabled Lost Colony (15X7) and
the grandfather of the little lost Vir¬
ginia Dare.
Press Agents
Almost nothing is known of White
prior to the 15X5 voyage, and his ap¬
pearance in history spanned a period
of only about eight years, but his im¬
pact upon the annals of the land of
North America is immeasurable. The
last word we have of the man who pic¬
tured the New World of Virginia — now
N'orth Carolina -is a letter, written to
his friend. Hakluyt, from "my house
at Newtown. Kilmore, the 4th. of
February. 1593 concerning my fifi
and last voyage to Virginia." It is pre¬
sumed that this voyage was one of
those made in the vain search for his
vanished colonists.
Although the saddened artist never
did lind his lost loved ones, he did
bequeath to posterity the marvelous
water-colors he painted of North Caro¬
lina's scene almost four hundred years
ago.
While John White was an explorer
and a competent mapmukcr, he was
also an artist of exceptional ability. As
proof of his pictorial skill, there are,
preserved in the British Museum, a set
of seventy-five water-colors depicting
places, people, plants and animals of
that New World that was barely known
to Englishmen in 15X5. These draw¬
ings and paintings were made, it is al¬
most certain, so that Englishmen could
see what the place was like, and be
persuaded to settle there. Hariot and
White were, so to speak, press agents,
commissioned by Sir Walter Raleigh to
publicize the new domain of the great
Queen Elizabeth.
That White's pictures were extreme-
John While’s ’’Indions Doncing Round
о
Circle
ol Posts” is lihcly
о
green corn or hor.etl ritual.
It hoi been luggetted thot the poili cor.ed of
top in the term ol humon hcodi represent minor
deities. The sigmliconcc ol the three »©men in
the center is not known.
ly accurate is borne out by the fact
that some of the creatures and scenes
that he painted arc much the same
today as those he drew. Look at his
painting of a "Landc Crab." One can
find just such a crab on the beach any
day. Since the same holds true for
birds, butter Hies and plants, it is quite
believable that bis portrayal of people,
places, and Indian customs are just as
true to life, and so they give a wonder¬
ful record of North Carolina in 1 585.
Indians Portrayed
John White painted many land¬
scapes of the seashore, the countryside
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John While wos olio on optorcr ond competent mopmokcr. Thu DeBry cngro.ing, soid to ho.e
“dimities” -.th sketches by Horiot ond While is titled "Arri.ol ol the English in Rolcigh’s Vir¬
ginia " The e-pedition under Coptoins Amodos ond lorlo-e reached the North Carolina coost in July.
1584 From N. C. Oept ol Archi.es ond History
THE STATE. FCOOUARV 1975