Jesse Talbot, “Tropical Scenery–Early Morning,” 1850, Collections of the Dyer Library and Saco Museum. Photo by Martha Cox.

“Fellow Journeyers Walt Whitman and Jesse Talbot: Painting, Poetry, and Puffery in 1850s New York,” Walt Whitman Quarterly Review, Summer 2020

Jesse Talbot—Hudson River School painter and friend to Walt Whitman—was highly respected in his day and exhibited work at the National Academy of Design alongside Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church, and many others, but he is scarcely remembered today. In researching why exactly this is, I’ve uncovered fascinating details about his biography and the cultural landscape that he navigated in mid-19th-century New York.

If you know of any Talbot paintings in public or private collections, please contact me and let me know.