{"id":2639,"date":"2015-10-01T08:44:48","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T12:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=2639"},"modified":"2024-06-26T10:02:47","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T14:02:47","slug":"wright-whistler-flew-drew-flags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wright-whistler-flew-drew-flags\/","title":{"rendered":"How Wright and Whistler flew and drew flags"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"James<\/a>
James McNeill Whistler (National Endowment for the Humanities)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wilbur Wright, the 20th-century co-inventor of the airplane, and James McNeill Whistler, the 19th-century painter, seem unlikely candidates to have a connection to flags. But, if you have sharp vision, you can see that they do.<\/p>\n

WRIGHT\u2019S DARING FLIGHT<\/p>\n

On October 4, 1909, Wright took off from Governor\u2019s Island in the Hudson River near Manhattan. His aim was to fly over the famous river on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of its namesake\u2019s cruise on it and the centennial of the launching of Robert Fulton\u2019s steamboat on the same body of water.<\/p>\n

\"Wright<\/a>
Wright flies around flag on Statue of Liberty island in 1909. (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As Wright rose into the air, people with great vision noticed something new flapping on the rear of the plane. Author David McCullough recounts what they saw in his recent biography of the Wright brothers: \u201cThe one difference\u2026was a tiny American flag<\/a> fixed to the rudder. It had been sent to him by Katharine [his sister] with the request that he fly it over New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a half-hour, the pilot flew 150 feet above the Hudson at more than 30 miles per hour. After he landed, he wrote his father and said, \u201cIt was an interesting trip and at times rather exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Wright<\/a>
Wright poses with his plane, which carried his sister’s flag. (wright-brother.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Part of that excitement was caused by buffeting winds. As McCullough wrote, \u201cHow formidable the wind problems had been could be measured by the small American flag\u2026.Brand-new at the start of the flight, it had returned in shreds.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHISTLER\u2019S HIDDEN PENNANT<\/p>\n

One of the most famous paintings in art history is \u201cWhistler\u2019s Mother,\u201d a huge black-and-white portrait of the artist\u2019s parent, Anna. Painted in 1871, it originally had a less interesting title: \u201cArrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Whistler's<\/a>The iconic artwork includes a pennant, but it requires a little detective work to find it. Hanging on the wall behind his mother\u2019s head, almost in the center of the canvas, is a framed sketch. The etching, done by Whistler in 1859, is titled \u201cBlack Lion Wharf\u201d and shows a bearded sailor in the foreground on the Thames River. It was one of dozens of etchings the artist did that year.<\/p>\n

\"Black<\/a>
Black Lion Wharf by Whistler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the background of the scene are other vessels, including a tall-masted boat on the left. From its topmost mast, a pennant<\/a> flies. (The zoom control on a computer can bring it into view.)<\/p>\n

While Whistler created the drawing in 1859, it was not published for 12 years, appearing in public on its own while simultaneously decorating the portrait of his mother as if it were a secret advertisement for his book of etchings.<\/p>\n

Whistler didn\u2019t live to see \u2013 and, therefore, never drew \u2013 an airplane in flight with or without a flag attached. He died in July 1903, just a few months before the Wrights Brothers\u2019 first successful flight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wilbur Wright, the 20th-century co-inventor of the airplane, and James McNeill Whistler, the 19th-century painter, seem unlikely candidates to have a connection to flags. But, if you have sharp vision, you can see that they do. WRIGHT\u2019S DARING FLIGHT On October 4, 1909, Wright took off from Governor\u2019s Island in the Hudson River near Manhattan…. continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,3],"class_list":["post-2639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-american-flag","tag-history"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Wright and Whistler flew and drew flags<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wilbur Wright, the 20th-century co-inventor of the airplane, and James McNeill Whistler, seem unlikely candidates to have a connection to flags.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wright-whistler-flew-drew-flags\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Wright and Whistler flew and drew flags\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wilbur Wright, the 20th-century co-inventor of the airplane, and James McNeill Whistler, seem unlikely candidates to have a connection to flags.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wright-whistler-flew-drew-flags\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-01T12:44:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-26T14:02:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Wright-flies-around-flag-on-Statue-of-Liberty-island-in-1909.-Library-of-Congress.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"436\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wright-whistler-flew-drew-flags\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wright-whistler-flew-drew-flags\/\",\"name\":\"How Wright and Whistler flew and drew flags\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wright-whistler-flew-drew-flags\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wright-whistler-flew-drew-flags\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Wright-flies-around-flag-on-Statue-of-Liberty-island-in-1909.-Library-of-Congress.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-01T12:44:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-26T14:02:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\"},\"description\":\"Wilbur Wright, the 20th-century co-inventor of the airplane, and James McNeill Whistler, seem unlikely candidates to have a connection to flags.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wright-whistler-flew-drew-flags\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wright-whistler-flew-drew-flags\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wright-whistler-flew-drew-flags\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Wright-flies-around-flag-on-Statue-of-Liberty-island-in-1909.-Library-of-Congress.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Wright-flies-around-flag-on-Statue-of-Liberty-island-in-1909.-Library-of-Congress.jpg\",\"width\":436,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Wright flies around flag on Statue of Liberty island in 1909. 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