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Online Exhibitions: Eclipse of 1918
At a time when photography could not yet capture the nuances of the eclipsed sun, Butler's paintings were a tour de force, providing astronomers and the public with perhaps the best record of eclipses at the time.
Because of their remarkable accuracy in capturing the eclipse of the sun, Butler's eclipse paintings have long been a source of fascination and study for scientists. A total solar eclipse lasts at most a few minutes at an observing site, and since it is visible only along a path a few tens of miles wide, observers must travel to the often-remote locales where an eclipse can be seen. It is only during a total eclipse, when the direct light from the sun is cut off, that the cloud of hot gases that surrounds the sun (the faint solar corona) is visible to the naked eye. Butler was able to make enough notes in the brief time of totality to enable him to create an accurate rendition of the eclipse with the aid of negatives and photographic prints taken at the time.
Edward D. Adams (an industrialist, philanthropist, trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and ardent amateur astronomer) suggested to Professor Samuel Mitchell (University of Virginia) that the artist Howard Russell Butler accompany Mitchell, Adams, and the US Naval Observatory Eclipse Team in 1918 to paint the eclipse. Butler was noted for his ability to record transient phenomena, such as the aurora or a sunset, using a shorthand notation of his own devising. Butler accepted the challenge, although he had never seen a total eclipse, and worked closely with Mitchell and the other USNO astronomers in the weeks before the eclipse. Butler's painting, completed in the hours after the eclipse from his memory and his notes, was a success, and Mitchell wrote, "The astronomers who saw the 1918 eclipse and who have seen [Butler's painting] look upon it as . . . true both as to form and color, a great work of art which has the added advantage of being scientifically accurate. The world of science owes a great debt of gratitude to Mr. Butler."
Because of their remarkable accuracy in capturing the eclipse of the sun, Butler's eclipse paintings have long been a source of fascination and study for scientists. A total solar eclipse lasts at most a few minutes at an observing site, and since it is visible only along a path a few tens of miles wide, observers must travel to the often-remote locales where an eclipse can be seen. It is only during a total eclipse, when the direct light from the sun is cut off, that the cloud of hot gases that surrounds the sun (the faint solar corona) is visible to the naked eye. Butler was able to make enough notes in the brief time of totality to enable him to create an accurate rendition of the eclipse with the aid of negatives and photographic prints taken at the time.
Edward D. Adams (an industrialist, philanthropist, trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and ardent amateur astronomer) suggested to Professor Samuel Mitchell (University of Virginia) that the artist Howard Russell Butler accompany Mitchell, Adams, and the US Naval Observatory Eclipse Team in 1918 to paint the eclipse. Butler was noted for his ability to record transient phenomena, such as the aurora or a sunset, using a shorthand notation of his own devising. Butler accepted the challenge, although he had never seen a total eclipse, and worked closely with Mitchell and the other USNO astronomers in the weeks before the eclipse. Butler's painting, completed in the hours after the eclipse from his memory and his notes, was a success, and Mitchell wrote, "The astronomers who saw the 1918 eclipse and who have seen [Butler's painting] look upon it as . . . true both as to form and color, a great work of art which has the added advantage of being scientifically accurate. The world of science owes a great debt of gratitude to Mr. Butler."
