ARTIST: Tom McNeely (Canadian, 1935 - ???)
TITLE: Juan Ponce de Leon
YEAR: 1982
MEDIUM: watercolor on paper. Paper applied to board.
CONDITION: Very good.
ART SIZE: 22 x 17 inches / 55 x 43 cm
BOARD SIZE: 30 x 23 inches / 76 x 58 cm
SIGNATURE: lower right
NOTE: This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S. 20c Ponce De Leon stamp issued October 12, 1982. From the moment he set sail in 1493 with Christopher Columbus, Ponce de Leon possessed a hearty love of excitement and conquest ... which led him to become one of the world's most celebrated explorers. His zesty ambitions drove him from adventure to adventure. Perhaps his greatest undertaking was conceived when he heard island natives speak of a distant, tropical island named Bimini, where there was believed to be a marvelous fountain that could restore youth to old persons. Excited at the prospect of conquest and adventure, he set out on a private expedition to discover this mythical island. Late in his voyage, he finally sighted what he believed to be the island of Bimini. Upon reaching the land, which was actually the corner of the North American continent, he was so impressed by the areas lush vegetation that he called the land Florida, which in Spanish means full of flowers. He quickly claimed the Florida coast for his motherland, Spain. After returning home, Ponce de Leon quickly organized another expedition to colonize Florida. However, Florida's savage Indian population opposed his efforts to tame the land. In a battle with the Indians, Ponce de Leon suffered a severe arrow wound. His battered expedition fled to Havana, Cuba, where shortly thereafter, the famed explorer died.
PROVENANCE: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation.
CATEGORY: old antique vintage painting for auction sale online
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BIOGRAPHY:
Born and raised a Cherokee, Sequoyah never spoke English, yet he watched in awe and wonderment as the white man looked at "talking leaves" and the leaves spoke to him. To be able to glance at a sheet full of another person's thoughts was like "catching a wild animal and taming it," he reasoned. He yearned to document his tribe's speech so that the leaves could speak to his people too. Sequoyah felt certain that this was the key to freedom from the white man. In 1809, Sequoyah tried representing tribal words with small animal figures and symbols, but the list grew hopelessly long. Next, he broke the words into syllables and designated symbols for each one. For twelve years he tirelessly labored toward his dream, often using a charred stick on a piece of bark as his writing tools. In 1821, he was ready to put his syllabary to the test. Men whispered a message to Sequoyah's child and the child wrote the message. Then, without faltering, Sequoyah read the message aloud. The skeptics were forever silenced. Soon, thousands of Indians mastered the eighty-six characters and could read and write. Sadly, despite this written language and Sequoyah's dream of freedom, white men still considered Cherokees as savages, to be relocated at their whim. Fortunately, today the Indian civilization is more highly regarded. In fact, the great Sequoyah is namesake to California's Sequoia National Park.