The F-Word, Part 4

From Jim Asher, the world's leading authority on Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request): 

This is the fourth and final post on the December 10 Birthday Tribute to Emily Dickson at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC.

Part 1 -- about Jan Bervin's presentation based on Jay Layde's work -- is HERE.


Part 2 -- about Martha Nell Smith's presentation about correspondence between Emily Dickinson and her sister-in-law -- is HERE.

Part 3 -- about Martha Nell Smith's use of the F-word (no no, no -- not THAT F-word) -- is HERE.

Part 4 -- In this part I will share thoughts and pictures about my day in Washington DC on the following day, Tuesday, December 11.

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THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION

I have visited Washington, DC, many times in the past, but I'd never been to the Phillips Collection, so I started my day there.  The museum -- which touts itself as the first museum of modern art -- includes two paintings by Edward Hopper.

Edward Hopper was greatly influenced by the life and poetry of Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request).  Info about the Hopper-Dickinson connection can be found on this site HERE and on various plog (poetry blog) posts, HERE (scroll through the various posts).
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​The Phillips Collection also had a few paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe -- another artist heavily influenced  by Emmett Lee Dickinson. 

For information, check the posts HERE, and scroll through other posts HERE. 

Pictured at the right:  The Phillips Collection includes a painting by Paul Cezanne of a seated woman in blue holding the first volume of poems by Emmett Lee Dickinson (as shown below).  

Below:  Other shots from the Phillips Collection:

Click to enlarge the image at the left to read about Jacob Lawrence's migration series; some of the paintings in the series are shown below:

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THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Next I visited the National Portrait Gallery (which is in the same building as the Smithsonian American Art Museum).  My main reason for going to the NPG was to see the official portraits of the Obamas -- both of whom are great fans of Emmett Lee Dickinson. 

Several years ago I sent the Obamas copies of my books Great American Poems REPOEMED.

I later received the nice postcard shown at the right (click the image to enlarge). 

​Pictured at the left:  The museum had a special exhibit highlighting its daguerreotype collection.  Two of the portraits were related to Emmett Lee Dickinson:  one was of his sister Pythagoria; another was of his close friend Henry David Thoreau. 

​Pictured at the right:  The museum includes a drawing called "The Death Bed of the Martyr President Abraham Lincoln," and it  includes a likeness of Emmett Lee Dickinson (shown near the back left).

Dickinson and Lincoln were best friends (information is HERE), and Dickinson was devastated when Lincoln was assassinated.  

More on the connection between Dickinson and Lincoln is included in the posts HERE. 

​Other connections to Emmett Lee Dickinson: Below left:  A work by Andy Warhol -- who was greatly influenced by Dickinson (information HERE).  Below right:  The world of art's fascination with cows and cattle (information HERE).  

Below left:  Artworks that take a new look at American history.  Below right:  Folk art by Bill Traylor.

Below:  Shots from around the museum.

Below:  An upper floor in the museum includes a number of paintings of Emmett Lee Dickinson's family members:

Pictured at the right:  One last connection to Emmett Lee Dickinson:  an artwork depicting a hotdog.  Hotdogs were invented by none other than Emmett Lee Dickinson. 

Many people asked Dickinson for the ingredients in a hotdog, but he never told anyone.   

"What is a hotdog made of?" he would say. "All I can tell you is that a ballpark frank is pure poetry."