Today is the celebratory inauguration of the President here in the U.S. (the actual one, as required by law, took place quietly on the 20th).
In the news coverage of the event, I caught two mentions of art.
One was the inaugural poem, “One Today” written and recited by Richard Blanco, in which he gave a kind of “one day in America” style snapshot of various kinds of people as they go about the day’s activities, including “…the first brush stroke on a portrait”.
The other mention of art was a painting of Niagra Falls by Danish-American artist Ferdinand Richardt (above, top), which the U.S. Senator from New York, Chuck Schumer, requested the loan of from the State Department offices where it normally resides, to take a place behind the main table at today’s Inaugural Lunch.
Richardt was born in Denmark, where he was known for his extensive body of lithographs of manor houses. After having visited on several occasion, emigrated to the U.S., where he painted numerous canvasses of Niagra Falls as well as other landscapes and cityscapes in around the country.
There is a book of his drawings available used: Fredinand Richardt; Drawings of America.