"A portrait is a picture in which there is just a tiny little something not quite right about the mouth." -- John Singer Sargent

Monday, December 25, 2017

Abraham Lincoln


This 1865 woodcut of Abraham Lincoln by an unidentified artist (after Anthony Berger) hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.
“Portraiture became part of the mourning process that followed Abraham Lincoln’s assassination on April 14, 1865. In the ensuing months, print publishers furnished the image of Lincoln in all guises. This simple, black-border Memento Mori recalls many Americans’ first grieving response: to drape funereal bunting, crepe, and flags on doors and windows, often tucking a portrait into the decorations.” – National Portrait Gallery
 Memento Mori
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Born, …                  Feb. 12, 1809
  Assassinated, April 15th, 1865.
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“Most strict in his observance of what was Right – most rigid in his adherence to Justice.”
This woodcut portrait is based on a February 9, 1864 photo of Lincoln by Anthony Berger. (See the Metrpolitan Museum of Art)


Another Momento Mori using the same Berger photo is this Mourning Corsage also in the Met:


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