Walter Whitman

A tightly framed portrait shows the elderly American poet in profile, informally dressed. McMillan's etching creates texture and expressive lines on Whitman’s face, applying fine strokes to achieve realism. Whitman’s hair and beard are at the center of the composition, rendered with calligraphic marks that enhance his facial features. The eyes are slightly shadowed, and the background is minimally articulated to make his face appear more statue-like. Like McMillan's other portraits, one implied goal is to honor elders whose hard-earned wisdom is shown upon their grizzled faces. Walt Whitman was born in Long Island and began his working life as a printer, journalist, and teacher before turning to poetry. In 1855, Whitman published the landmark collection Leaves of Grass, which helped establish his controversial reputation and profoundly influenced American poetry. Throughout his career Whitman carefully cultivated his visual image; the Walt Whitman Archive has collected more than a hundred posed photographs. Here, McMillan draws upon Whitman later in life, a period when his public persona had become that of the “Good Gray Poet.” McMillan’s portraits of informal yet profound men echo the WPA’s democratic ideals, portraying everyday Americans with dignity and emotional depth. 

About the Artist

Leo Angus McMillan was born in Au Sable, MI to Scottish immigrant parents and later lived in Detroit. After briefly enlisting in the army, in 1908, he studied at the Detroit School of Design and had an early portrait featured by that city’s art museum. As of 1918 McMillan’s occupation was listed as a self-employed cartoonist, perhaps suggesting freelance commercial work and portraiture. Yet it seems that his life tilted toward the necessities of supporting a wife and four children: census records indicate work as a real estate agent (1920) and a “commercial traveler” for a paint company (1930). During the late 1930s, McMillan was employed by the Graphic Arts Division of the Federal Art Project, producing at least five lithographs—interestingly, all of them sensitive portraits of older men. Between 1940 and 1942, he worked as “contact executive” for the Michigan Art and Craft Project, a spin-off of the Federal Art Project that supported mural work, wood carving, puppetry, and other crafts. McMillan’s commercial background may have landed him the administrative role. By this time, U.S. mobilization and then entry into World War II meant that artistic labor would be “entirely committed to war service,” as he explained. Five trucks loaded with hand-made furniture, wool rugs, ceramic lamps, woven drapes, and decorative screens were sent to the 184^th Field Artillery unit at Fort Custer (Bower). It was a strange ending to the Federal Art Project and McMillan’s working life, for he passed away in 1944, but his dignified portraits of artists, musicians, and thinkers survive him. 1 work at University of Michigan Museum of Art. 2 works at Ackland Art Museum. 1 work at Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. 1 work at Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3 images at GSA.

Works Consulted: “Fort News,” The Leavenworth Post 22 July 1909: 5; Ancestry.com; Helen Bower, “WPA Work Furnishing Army Rooms,” Detroit Free Press 27 Feb 1942: 3.

McMillan, Leo A. (1883 - 1944)

Taylor, Nadia (description and biography)
Cooper, Ken (biography)
Hellquist, Morgan (photography)

New Deal Gallery, Mt. Morris NY

Object #FA 3745

Etching

16 x 17 in.