MS01.01.03.B01.F25.042

16

of every possible chance to see original paintings in New
York City where he later worked. Mount became interested
in portrait painting at the beginning of his career and
worked as a portraitist while developing other themes
relating to everyday life.

By the time Mount was 23 he had created a relatively
small painting, though major, in which a large crowd of
people were shown, all having very individualized faces
in a painterly format of approximately 22" x 27". On this
small canvas entitled (SLIDE #23) [u]Rustic Dance after a
Sleigh Ride[/u] some thirty-one faces were seen, three of which
were black. To my knowledge, this is the earliest known
work by Mount in which the images of Blacks appear. Here
again the music for the ensuing frolic is provided by a
black musician while two black boys look on approvingly.

Hereafter, Mount was to seek out Blacks as subjects
for his paintings partly because of his interest in music
and also because of his acquaintance with a number of Blacks
who were musicians in Stoney Brook where he lived. Actually,
his treatment of the subject (SLIDE #24) [u]Farmer's Nooning[/u]
was meant to show equality of sharing the noon lunch period
on a Long Island farm. [u]Negro Asleep - Hay Making[/u] is the name
William Sachus, an agent for Goupil and Company of New York
City, gave the picture when writing to Mount about rights to
reproduce it by engraving on September 1, 1852. Sachus
anxiously asked for other works [deleted: by] in one letter saying, "How
soon can I have one or both of theses pictures?", referring to
[u]Banjo Player[/u] and [u]Bones Player[/u]. Mount responded to Sachus'