""His Constituents," for "The Day of Reckoning"" Lot no. 4803
By Arthur Burdett Frost (1851-1928)
1903
17" x 26", Framed 26.5" x 35.5"
Watercolor on Paper
Signed Lower Right
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Published to accompany the poem “The Day of Reckoning” in Drawings by A. B. Frost (New York: Duffield & Co.), 1904. Subsequently released as a print, titled "His Constituents"
This image depicting a tense scene of a political discussion was published in the 1904 book Drawings by A. B. Frost, and accompanied a poem titled "The Day of Reckoning." A portly politician has returned from the Legislature to face his constituents. Stroking his beard in contemplation, he stands before a group of disapproving men. One of them, an older man, leans forward intently, pointing to a piece of paper, presumably demanding answers about promised but unfulfilled projects, such as new schools and railroads. This powerful image was later reproduced and distributed as a lithograph.
Full text of “The Day of Reckoning”:
“Well, we’re back at last, Hi Newton,
From the Legislature, hey?
And with all yer high-falutin’
What did we git frum it, say?
Where’s the railroad that we thought ye
Was a-goin’ to put through
When we promised to support ye—
(We elected of ye, too).
Where’s our rates in transportation,
And our new Primary School,
And our Court House—thunderation!
Take the Corners for a fool?
Think we’re running’ institutions
Ye can break yer promise to?
Here, jest read them resolutions,
Showing’ what we think o’ you!”
Framed under glass
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ABOUT THE ARTIST
Arthur Burdett Frost was our best illustrator of rural America. He usually treated his characters with humor, and in his drawings there was a directness and honesty which showed his sympathetic understanding of his subjects. His sound draughtsmanship was combined with an intimate knowledge of nature. The details in his pictures are always very specific, as though drawn on the spot, and so artfully chosen and placed as to carry out the picture’s idea in a natural and entirely convincing manner.
He may be best remembered now, however, for his charming illustrations for the Uncle Remus tales by Joel Chandler Harris. In the preface and dedication by Harris for the 1896 edition, he wrote of Frost “…you have conveyed into their quaint antics the illumination of your own inimitable humor, which as true to our sun and soil as it is to the spirit and essence of the matter… The book was mine, but now you have made it yours, both sap and pith…”
Frost was appreciated as a wood engraver and gravitated to work as a lithographer. His first success came with his illustrations for Out of the Hurly-Burly by Max Adler. He became a member of the Harper’s Brothers art staff alongside Abbey and Pyle, studied with Thomas Eakins and William Merritt Chase. The Frost family also sojourned in France for a long period of study for Frost and his two sons.