Walt Whitman and American art

The "long foreground" to Walt Whitman's poetry that Ralph Waldo Emerson expressed curiosity about in his 1855 letter to Whitman has long been the subject of critical attention. The many influences that contributed to Whitman's startling poems in the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass have been studied in detail, but one important influence that has been ignored is Whitman's association with American artists and interest in American art prior to 1855.

In the Introduction, I establish that Whitman had a lifelong interest in art by examining his comments on Jean Francois Millet and Thomas Eakins, two artists whose work was admired by the poet. In chapter 1 I examine the aesthetics and goals of American art and artists in the years before 1855 in order to provide a background for later comparisons. Whitman's associations with American artists and comments on art in the years 1846-1855 are examined in Chapter 2 in order to prove that Whitman was a part of the art world during those important years. In Chapters 3 and 4 I examine Whitman's prose works and early poetry (the major poems of the first three editions of Leaves of Grass) to point out similarities with American art in themes and techniques. Finally, in the Conclusion, I briefly touch upon Whitman's legacy to modern art.

Although the influence of American art is not solely responsible for Whitman's maturation as a poet, it is one of many factors that contributed to his development. Both mid-century American art and Leaves of Grass are representative of the complex ideas of their time.