Strangely Gifted: Collected Poetry and Recollections of David Gilmour Blythe

David Gilmour Blythe (1815-1865), painter, poet, artisan and social critic, was a true American original. At a time when Victorian-era sentimentality ruled the upper classes of society, Blythe’s unique gaze captured the foibles of his environment with wit and irreverence. His mature paintings typically portray allegorical slayings of the Confederacy, herds of feral children rampaging through downtown Pittsburgh, ne’er-do-wells and drunks in their natural setting, and the Hogarthian chaos of...