Arnetta Spillman
2-27-2006
Art History 396

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Through the Hands of Ed Hamilton

 

Imagine a big, tall man gazing into the river. He looks with determination at it. He holds a rifle in his left hand, and two birds, tied together at the neck, in his right. His clothes are wrinkled. He looks to have just come from a hunt. You wonder, What is he thinking? What is he going to say? Make up your own mind. I see his expression as being one of wanting to travel, wanting to lead, to help. That’s just what he did.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m talking about the statue of York, the first African American slave to travel across the U.S. He was William Clark’s slave. William Clark journeyed with Lewis. Clark was the little brother of George Rogers Clark. A Louisville sculptor named Ed Hamilton made this statue. He created York as a memorial to him and to commemorate his journey on Lewis and Clark’s expedition. It was commissioned in 2002 by the city of Louisville.

Now, a little background about Mr. Ed Hamilton. As a child, he never knew he was going to become an artist. “You don’t know what you’re going to be”, Mr. Hamilton told me. Yet, he always explored different things as a child and he analyzed them.  Growing up, he lived near a barbershop. His mother and father ran a combination barber and tailor shop called "Your Valet Shop"; it was located on Walnut Street. His dad was a tailor, so he played with his dad’s tailor boxes, buttons, etc.

Later on, when he was in junior high school, one of his teachers found out he had talent. That allowed his creativity to come forth. When Mr. Hamilton was 13, his father died and he didn’t get to see his son’s art bloom. But his mother, who is now deceased, supported and encouraged him.
Mr. Hamilton graduated from Shawnee High School in 1965. He recieved two Honorary Doctorate of Art degrees, one from Western University and the other from U of L. He recieved them both in the same week, so he didn't officially graduate from either. He was working towards a teaching degree, but that didn't go forward because he met Barney Bright, with whom he worked with from 1973 until about 1978. It was in ’78 that Mr. Hamilton broke off and had his own studio.

Barney Bright was a role model to him. Mr. Hamilton met Mr. Bright when he was buying clay at a ceramic shop called Kings, which was next to Mr. Bright's studio. Mr. Bright was coming out of his studio, and that's when Mr. Hamilton met him. He walked over to him and introduced himself. That’s when his career with Mr. Bright started. Mr. Bright was the creator behind the River Horse, on Chestnut Street, the Derby clock, and the Winged Man, Icarus.

Mr. Hamilton’s biggest influence is Auguste Rodin, an artist from the 1800’s. Rodin was born in Paris in 1840.[1]  When Rodin was a student at the Petite Ecole, he showed a lot of talent and won first prize for sculpture and second prize for drawing in 1857.[2] Mr. Hamilton had talent as a youth, and it shows today in his many works. I find that interesting that Rodin and Mr. Hamilton both showed talent when they were younger.

Rodin’s The Thinker shows the same strength and determination that Mr. Hamilton’s York does. They both have you thinking: What’s he thinking about? The Thinker is from Rodin’s doors the Gates of Hell; which plays on another set of doors, the Gates of Paradise, by Lorenzo Ghiberti.[3]  York has a similar muscular body and smooth skin like The Thinker.

As I’ve stated earlier, Rodin was one of Mr. Hamilton’s biggest influences. Some other artists he admires are Barney Bright, Elizabeth Catlett, Barthé, Michelangelo and Richard Hunt. He likes their styles and techniques. Now, I’ll talk a little about Barney Bright.

Born Jeptha Barnard Bright, Jr. on July 8, 1927 in Shelbyville, Kentucky, Barney Bright showcased his artistic talent for school projects.[4]  Throughout the 1950’s in Louisville, he’d been commissioned to do various sculptures near fountains for different buildings. Take for instance “Pool Figures” and “Landscape.” “Pool Figures” is a group of three nymph-like women in a fountain. They resemble water nymphs we see in fantasy movies. They’re nude and slender. These pieces were made of bronze and done in the late 1950’s. [5]

“Landscape”, which was commissioned by the Citizens Fidelity Bank and done in 1958[6], is of a woman sitting near a fountain. She’s leaning over, seeming to gaze into the water. Both of these pieces have that same quality as York; they make you wonder what the “nymphs” are doing in the water and what is the woman looking at. The figure in “Landscape” has great texture and good features like York. 

Mr. Hamilton had helped Barney Bright look over “Truth and Justice”, another one of Mr. Bright’s works. “Truth and Justice” is a woman floating over a man. They seem to be just floating in the air. It was placed, and still is, in front of the Legal Arts Building here in Louisville. William P. Mulloy commissioned the sculpture and the building.[7]

Elizabeth Catlett is another artist he likes. She’s an African American sculptor and printmaker. She was born in 1915 and has lived in Mexico for fifty years.[8]  She’s married to Francisco Mora, a Mexican artist.[9] She does art about woman, black women in particular; a lot of them show motherhood. Her sculptures hearken back to ancient cultures that made “Mother figures”, wide hips and women holding children. Take the sculpture Figura, made of mahogany and done in 1962.[10]  It looks like a Venus de Milo statue because of the slender shape and curve of the hips.

The Mother and Child sculpture looks like medieval art’s paintings and manuscripts of the Virgin and Child. It was made in 1961 and the material she used was terracotta.[11]  Her works show strength, femininity, Greek, and other culture influences.

Another artist that Mr. Hamilton admires is Barthé. Richmond Barthé was born in Mississippi in 1901.[12]  He became a sculptor when he was praised for his paintings of portrait busts at an exhibition called the Chicago Women’s City Club exhibition.[13] Like Mr. Hamilton, his artistic talent was seen early. Barthé’s sculptures go from large works to smaller portrait heads and studies of the body, just like Mr. Hamilton does. In Mr. Hamilton’s studio, he has multiple busts of sculptures he’s created and small models of bigger sculptures he’s made. Barthé’s Bust of a Negro Boy [14] reminds me of some of the busts of men Mr. Hamilton has in his studio.

Michelangelo is another of Mr. Hamilton’s favorite artists. As we all know, he’s a famous artist of the 15th and 16th century. Michelangelo’s Pietà, which is made of marble and was made from 1497-1500[15], has so much detail and natural anatomy. Michelangelo made the clothes drape over them so well that you could reach out and lift up a piece of the fabric. It’s the same way with York: it seems like you could touch his skin and it’d feel real, his clothes would feel rough, and he could just step off the rock and talk to you.

Michelangelo’s David is a colossal statue. York is too: he’s 8 feet tall on an artificial rock that was made by Forest Boone; it’s called a “museumrock.”[16]  Both David and York have determined looks on their faces and, again, you wonder what they are thinking.

And lastly, Richard Hunt is another artist that Mr. Hamilton likes. He was a metal sculptor that lives and works out of Chicago, Illinois.

Those six artists were Mr. Hamilton’s favorite artists. Now that I’ve told you about them, I will now analyze one of his works: York. I’ll tell what it’s made of, how he made it, and what I think of it.

 York is made of bronze and, as I’ve said earlier, is 8 feet tall.  It’s a magnificent statue.  It shows great talent and attention to detail.  He gives off an air of strength and formidability.

When I had interviewed Mr. Hamilton, he mentioned “Big Medicine.”  I’ve read that on the plaques around the statue.  What’s meant by that is the Native Americans saw York as superior to the white man and to have great spiritual power because of his skin color.  He has such a strong presence.  He dominates the place he stands on.

          When I first met Mr. Hamilton in 2004, he told me how he made York.  First, he created many busts of him and then a nude clay model.  He told me he made him nude so he could get the proportions right and to know how clothes lay on the body.  I found that really interesting because I had never thought of that in sculpture or drawing.  Also, I watched a news story about him when I met him.  It said he uses his hands as eyes, feeling over each groove and rise in his sculptures.

          Then, he sent off the clay model, with the clothes already on it, to get cast into bronze. Later, he added the gun, the birds, and the items at his feet, which are a hat and his satchel.  He used many tools to create York, such as loop tools (a wooden handled instrument with a loop of metal at the top) and various other instruments to make incisions into the metal.  Mr. Hamilton also told me, when I first met him, that when he makes the faces and bodies of the people, he uses a composition of parts, such as a certain nose with a certain set of eyes and mouth.

          I’ve told you about York, some of Mr. Hamilton’s favorite artists, and how he created York.  Now, I’ll give more history of Mr. Hamilton, what his favorite sculptures are, and a work of art that he hasn’t done that he’d like to do.

Two of his favorite sculptures are York and the Spirit of Freedom.  The Spirit of Freedom is a commemorative piece in D.C. that honors hundreds of black soldiers.  Mr. Hamilton was commissioned by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities of Washington, D.C. to create this piece.  On the front, there are soldiers and sailors.  On the back, there’s family of the servicemen.  He told me that wherever the soldiers go, they bring their family.  That’s very deep and meaningful.  They may leave to fight, but they have their family with them.

Mr. Hamilton’s been married to his wife Bernadette for 39 years and they have two children, Kendra, who’s 28, and Ed III, who’s 38.  Ed III is in the culinary arts and Kendra works for Humana; she was in music in college and played the French horn and violin at Manual’s performing arts school.  She went to Montessori and Brown also.

A piece that he hasn’t done but he’d like to do is Martin Luther King, Jr. standing in an architecture with columns.  It’s going to be in Newport News, Virginia, by the beach.  It’s going to be made of bronze.  I’d like to see that one.

It was good seeing Mr. Hamilton again and to interview him.  I learned a lot about him.  I hope you learned a lot too.  York is a great work of art.  He shows strength, determination, and pride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Bright, Barney.  Barney Bright: A Fifty-year celebration.  Louisville: The Association, 1997.

 

Catlett, Elizabeth.  Elizabeth Catlett Sculpture: A Fifty-year retrospective.  Purchase:  University of Washington Press, c. 1998.

 

Grove Dictionary of Art.  New York: Macmillan Publishers Limited, 1996.

 

Kelley, Robin D.G.  African American art: 20^th century Masterworks X.  New York: Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, 2003.