The Middlebury College Museum of Art recently unveiled a new gift: the life portraits of Henry Bliss Northup (1805–1877) and his wife Electa Taylor Northup (1803–1882). The portraits arrived just in time to reveal their connection to one of this year’s Oscar-nominated films, Twelve Years a Slave.
Storified by middartmuseum ·
Thu, Jul 10 2014 20:20:32
Twelve Years A Slave is
a film version of the horrific story of the kidnap and enslavement of Solomon
Northup (1808–c. 1865). The film (along with its title) is based on Northup’s
narrative, which was published in 1853, immediately after his return to
freedom.
What the film (as well as subsequent reviews, such as the one below) does not mention,
however, is that the person who rescued Solomon Northup from slavery in
Louisiana and enabled him to be reunited with his family in Saratoga Springs,
New York, was Henry Bliss Northup, a graduate of Middlebury College, Class of
1829.
Movie Review: 12 Years a Slave | EW.comSteve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave is an agonizingly magnificent movie: the first great big-screen dramatization of slavery. Based on actual events, it begins in 1841 and tells the story of a free black man from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., a musician named Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who walks around in a natty gray suit, secure in the courtly modesty of his life as a husband and father of two.
When the Northup
portraits were gifted to the museum by descendants of the Northup family, we
began to dig into the story a bit more, and we invited Associate Professor of
History William Hart to research Henry Bliss Northup and to help us uncover his
connection to Solomon. A number of media outlets, including Middlebury's own Public Affairs office, ran with the results.
Oscar-Winning "12 Years a Slave" has Middlebury TieMIDDLEBURY, Vt. - Middlebury College has acquired two oil paintings from the 1830s that represent a surprising Middlebury connection to the Oscar-nominated film "12 Years a Slave," and to the man who rescued the main character from bondage in Louisiana.
NY and Vt. connections in "12 Years a Slave"NY and Vt. connections in "12 Years a Slave" Posted: Monday, April 14, 2014 6:18 PM EDT Updated: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 10:19 AM EDT BURLINGTON, Vt. - The movie "12 Years a Slave" swept the Academy awards last month, picking up Best Picture among others awards.
The portraits, which are
in need of some cleaning and repair, are undergoing conservation during the
summer of 2014 and will be installed in the museum in the early fall, but prior to sending them off to be repaired we had a brief unveiling event a few days before the 2014 Academy Awards.
