De Lancey Gill

DeLancey Walker Gill (July 1, 1859 – August 31, 1940) was an American drafter, landscape painter, and photographer known for his paintings of Washington, D.C., and his portrait photography of Native Americans with the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE). Gill first became noted for his landscape illustrations and watercolors, mainly centered on Washington, although also including views of Native American pueblos. Characterized as precise and exact in his landscapes, Gill captured views of working-class and rural areas of Washington not commonly depicted in period art.

Initially employed as an illustrator and draftsman, Gill was director of the Division of Illustration at the BAE from 1889 to 1932. Although not trained in photography, Gill assumed a role as the BAE's head photographer following the resignation of two of the Smithsonian's prior photographers. In this role, he produced thousands of photographs of Native American delegations for the Bureau, including notable figures such as Geronimo and Chief Joseph. Gill's photographic work was showcased in Smithsonian publications, the Panama–Pacific Exposition and on a 1923 postage stamp. His portraiture has been praised for its pictorialist qualities and strength of design, despite the occasional use of outdated or misattributed clothing given to subjects.

Biography

Early life

DeLancey Walker Gill was born in Camden, South Carolina, on July 1, 1859. His father William Harrison Gill, a merchant, was killed in action serving in the Confederate Army when DeLancey was five. Nine years later, his mother and stepfather moved to Fort Laramie in the Wyoming Territory. Gill chose instead to move in with an aunt in Washington, D.C. He briefly worked as a typesetter before finding employment as a draftsman for the Office of the Supervising Architect for the U.S. Treasury, specializing in ornamental ironwork, tiles, and linear perspective.

Painting

While employed as a draftsman, Gill began a series of ink sketches and watercolor paintings, primarily of Washington, D.C., landscapes. He focused on capturing the rural periphery and villages within the district. Gill's sketches are a relatively rare depiction of poorer neighborhoods of Washington during the 1880s, including Black and immigrant communities. A detailed depiction of a shanty house, his only drawing showing an indoor environment, serves as an isolated example of the interiors of working-class housing in the city. Cultural historian Lisa Goff praised the drawings as "not nostalgic or sentimental, but ..studies of a vanishing landscape", made without demeaning the shanties. Like his later work, these drawings have been described by Goff as meticulous and documentative, taking "little if any artistic license".

Gill's watercolors brought acclaim, to the point that he received a greater income from art sales than his work with the Treasury. In 1881, his paintings were shown at an exhibition in New York City. Gill's work was favorably received by contemporary art critics, with a reviewer for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle describing his landscapes as "airy, clean, silvery" and distinct from other watercolorists. The art historians Andrew Cosentino and Henry Glassie praised the extreme clarity and attention to detail shown in Gill's paintings.

United States Geological Survey (USGS) chief of illustration William Henry Holmes hired Gill as a paleontological draftsman in 1884. Holmes, a fellow watercolor painter, came to greatly respect Gill's artistic work, later claiming that "as an illustrator in pen, pencil, and water-colour, and as a photographer, he had few equals." Gill was rapidly promoted through the USGS, due in part to Holmes' admiration. In 1889, he succeeded Holmes as chief of illustration when he joined the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) to direct archaeological operations.

As chief of illustration, Gill managed the publication of illustrations and photography, examining all copies of printed illustrations. As John Wesley Powell was the director of both the USGS and the BAE, employees of both agencies were frequently assigned duties in the other. As such, Gill was additionally tasked with supervising the BAE's illustrations.

During his initial time with the Bureau in the late 1880s, Gill produced paintings of southwestern pueblos, departing from his prior focus on Washington. These included the Hopi pueblo of Oraibi, the ruins of Pueblo Bonito, and the Zuni Pueblo. His painting of Oraibi was based off an earlier photograph by Smithsonian photographer John K. Hillers, but no photographic source is known for the other pueblos within the series. Gill accounted for minutiae such as climatic differences in his landscapes, making use of thin washes for his depictions of southwestern locations.

Although largely stepping away from painting during a period of increased work within the BAE, he continued to paint throughout his life. He returned to art exhibition in 1922, showcasing his paintings at the Morrey Gallery in Washington. He also pursued private illustration work, including the label for a local whiskey brand.

Photography

In 1889, Gill discovered archaic stone tools while sketching at Rock Creek Park. He later took ''in situ'' photographs of the artifacts for an archaeological exploration organized by Holmes, his first published photographic work. In 1894, Powell resigned from the USGS to focus on administration of the BAE, with Gill following four years later in order to continue work on Bureau publications. Despite having no prior training in photography, Gill was appointed to this position following the resignation of the BAE's two previous photographers. As photographer for the Bureau, Gill's work consisted of portrait photography of Native American subjects, primarily delegates to the capital, at a rate of hundreds of individuals per year. The total number is unknown, but has been estimated to be between 2,000–3,000. He also extensively classified and cataloged the resulting photographic negatives, at one point re-cataloging the entire BAE archive of native portraits.

Delegations of Native Americans tribes to Washington, D.C., were common throughout the 19th century, often to negotiate treaties or dissuade frontier conflicts. Government photography of these delegations had begun in the 1860s and 1870s. The frequency of delegations increased over the 1890s, with many arriving during winter congressional sessions. They were generally not paid, although Apache chief Geronimo successfully demanded payment from Gill before shooting, having set prices for portrait sittings.

Joseph Henry, the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, ordered that native delegations should be photographed without headdresses so that the "configuration of the head" could be recorded. William Henry Holmes, succeeding Powell as Chief of the BAE in 1902, also emphasized the "anthropometric elements" of the photographs, placing items with known sizes around subjects in order to allow for facial and cranial measurements to be taken. However, as ethnographic and historical purposes were increasingly pursued, subjects were often depicted with headdresses, wearing native dress and holding tools or artifacts associated with their tribe. Occasionally, subjects were given clothing that was anachronistic or from other tribes. Gill photographed all studio subjects in a "mug-shot" approach, with head-and-shoulders profile and front-facing shots. However, full body shots were also taken, usually of subjects in traditional clothing.

Prior to 1904, Gill photographed delegations at the Downtown offices of the BAE. However, the walk downtown was disliked by many delegates, who preferred to stay in the vicinity of the Smithsonian. The studio was later moved to the upper floor of the Smithsonian's National Museum Building (now the Arts and Industries Building).

Gill occasionally took field photography of Native Americans in addition to his studio portraiture. In 1899, he photographed residents of the Pamunkey Reservation. The following year, he partnered with William John McGee on an expedition to Arizona and New Mexico, photographing members of the Akimel O'odham, Cocopah, Seri, and Tohono Oʼodham. During this expedition, he named Klotho's Temple, one of the Muggins Mountains of southwestern Arizona.

He also accompanied Holmes to document Native American archaeological sites, working both as a photographer and field assistant. In 1901, they investigated sites in Missouri and the Indian Territory, recording the bones of humans and extinct mammals. He worked with Holmes to photograph archaeological sites in Maryland: his 1907 work at a site on Popes Creek was later described by biographer J.R. Glenn as "some of his best field photographs." In 1918, they investigated remains discovered at the Aberdeen Proving Ground.

In addition to portraits, Gill prepared and photographed in Smithsonian anthropological publications, including many in the collections of other institutions. In 1913, he photographed Ho-Chunk medicine bundles at University Museum, writing that he attempted to "eliminate all but the genuine old stuff".

Many notable Native American figures were photographed by Gill, including the delegation sent to Washington, D.C., during the second inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt. He described the Nez Perce Chief Joseph, photographed on several occasions, as having "the dignity of a chief justice" and "an air of gentleness and quiet reserve." In one 1903 sitting, Gill asked Joseph for a totem mark as a substitute for his signature. Instead, Joseph signed his name in full for Gill, alongside the year 1900. He ignored protests from Gill regarding the incorrect date, claiming it was exactly how he was taught to sign by a friend. Gill's photography prominently featured in Smithsonian publications during his career, such as the '' Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico'', as well as posthumously in the '' Handbook of North American Indians''. Over the course of the 1910s, displays of his prints were shown at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition, the Panama–California Exposition, as well as various public libraries. His 1905 portrait of Hollow Horn Bear was used on a fourteen-cent postage stamp in 1923.

From 1903 to 1905, Gill delegated some of his portrait work to United States National Museum photographer Thomas Smillie. Due to Gill's worsening eyesight, many of his photography duties with the Smithsonian were transferred to A. J. Olmsted in 1926, although he continued to be involved with portrait photography in a limited capacity. He continued work as illustration editor for various bureaus within the Smithsonian in addition to the BAE, including the United States National Museum. In October 1931, he photographed Crazy Bull, grandson of Sitting Bull. This would be one of his last photographs taken for the Bureau. Following Gill's retirement in 1932, the BAE was left without a head photographer, and photographs of visiting native delegations largely shifted to informal sittings.

Reception

Gill's early portraits, especially full-body and group photographs, were characterized by Glenn as inartistic. Gill worked within the ethnographic, historical, and anthropometric demands of the BAE alongside his own artistic goals. His full-length portraits often featured stiff poses in front of "wrinkled and ill-draped backdrops", serving mainly to document clothing rather than the subject themselves.

His initial closer-framed portraits, showing just the head and shoulders, were likewise described by Glenn as "crowded" and "ill-framed". However, Glenn saw a significant improvement over the course of his early career, showing greater artistic intent than full-body shots. He would take great care to edit pieces for prints and publication: a portrait of Wolf Robe was heavily cropped in order to create a more artistic design. The romantic and pictorialist composition of his later work was potentially inspired by the contemporary photography of Native Americans by Edward S. Curtis.

Gill occasionally provided his subjects with anachronistic or outdated clothing, some possibly sourced from Smithsonian collections. In over a dozen cases, subjects from the same delegation were shown with the same clothing and props. One photograph showed a Kickapoo subject wearing Blackfoot leggings and a breechclout from the Iowa or Otoe. Such errors were similar to those made by contemporary White photographers of Native Americans. In other cases, Gill photographed "show Indians", performers who wore clothing intended to appeal to public conceptions of native dress. For unclear purposes, a troupe of four Dakota from the 101 Ranch Wild West Show were each pictured wearing the same headdress, despite wearing separate headgear in a group photo.

Personal life

Gill married his first wife, Rose DeLima Draper, on May 25, 1881. They had six children before Rose Gill died in 1893, including Robert Gill, a major in the Corps of Engineers. He married fellow Smithsonian illustrator Mary Irwin Wright on August 19, 1895. They had one daughter, Minna P. Gill, who would go on to become a prominent suffragist and librarian. They divorced in 1903, but continued to collaborate in their work. On January 2, 1905, he married Katharine Schley Hemmick, with whom he had one child.

Gill was an active cyclist: during the 1880s he served as a team captain of the Capital Bicycle Club, an early American cyclists' organization. He was later a member of the Cosmos Club, the Society of Washington Artists, and the Association of the Oldest Inhabitants of the District of Columbia. He taught painting classes at the Corcoran School of Art and the Art Students League of Washington. He collected and transcribed a large number of African-American spirituals and folk songs. He also collected antiques, and was described as an expert on oriental rugs and East Asian porcelain.

Following his retirement from the Smithsonian, Gill moved to Alexandria, Virginia. He died on August 31, 1940, fracturing his skull after falling down a staircase at his home.

References

Bibliography

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, DeLancey W.
Smithsonian Institution people
19th-century American photographers
20th-century American photographers
19th-century American painters
People from Camden, South Carolina
Artists from Washington, D.C.
American illustrators
Scientific illustrators
1859 births
1940 deaths
American landscape painters
American watercolorists