Commissions Link Tubac Artist To National Guard
In the summer of 1993, Lt. Col. Willie Davenport, a 1968 Olympic gold medalist now on active duty with the Army National Guard, returned to his office in Washington, D.C. after spending several months at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona coaching the U.S. Army Track Team. While in Southern Arizona, Davenport visited Tubac and saw the work of local African-American artist Bobb Vann. Intrigued by Vann's depiction of a "Buffalo soldier," Davenport asked National Guard historians if they wouldn't commission Vann to paint a Buffalo soldier for the National Guard.
Once the government contacting officers had been satisfied that Bobb Vann was indeed the best-qualified artist to undertake the task, National Guard historians began sending him historic photographs from which to get details of the correct uniforms and equipment worn and used by black soldiers who served in National Guard units in America's wars, from the Civil War through the Persian Gulf War.
However, it was the pre-photographic era that presented Vann with an artistic and historic challenge. The series began with South Carolina's campaign against the Yemassee Indians in 1715, a period for which no contemporary images of white or black militia exist. After consulting experts from the Costume Department at Colonial Williamsburg, National Guard historians went to the Library of Congress to research 18th century dress. It was up to Bobb Vann to turn their research into a portrait of a man wearing clothes historically correct for the year 1715.
Research for the Revolutionary War figures was easier, as there are contemporary drawings for this period. Vann's skill in depicting horses (something not all historical artists can do ) led to the decision to do a mounted figure, an African-American attached to one of the guerrilla bands like that of Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox". Again, all the details of clothing, as well as the horse's bridle and saddle, had to be historically accurate.
Vann's skill in portraiture, combined with his ability for the detailed work required to accurately depict the smallest details of uniforms and equipment, led to a larger commission. Using money from their advertising account, the National Guard Bureau commissioned from Bobb an original oil portrait to commemorate the African American "Minutemen" who began the Revolutionary War. While the portrait was based on the famous 1876 statue at Concord, Massachusetts by Daniel Chester French, the interpretation and dramatic colors used in the painting were Vann's own.
Vann's African-American Minuteman was made into a poster with an initial print run of 10,000. The success of this poster, distributed nationally for the Department of Defense celebration of African-American Heritage Month in February 1997, led to the decision to commission poster for the other manor ethnic groups which serve in the Guard. Bobb's ability to accurately portray the full range of black skin tones and facial features left no doubt that he would be equally sensitive to the accurate portrayal of other ethnic groups, and he again received the commission. The resulting poster, commemorating the National Guard service of Hispanics, Asians and women will be distributed in 1998-1999.
Bobb is currently working on yet another poster for the Guard, this one depicting enlisted members of the Air National Guard over a 60-year period. Meanwhile, his previous work is constantly in use by the Guard's historians, most prominently in a $14,000 permanent historical display in the Pentagon which was officially opened in August, 1998 by Lt. Gen. Russell C. Davis, Chief of the National Guard Bureau.
Renee Hylton
Historian, National Guard Bureau
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