Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
He Saved the Union Lincoln Delivers His Second Inaugural Address as President of the United States, March 4, 1865
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1919
Dimensions:
34 × 24 in. (86.4 × 61 cm)
Private collection
Accession number: SUPP2000.1793
Research Number: NCW: 1793
InscribedLower left: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
Provenance(American Illustrators Gallery, New York, NY); MBNA America, Wilmington, DE, 1999-2004; (Frank E. Fowler, Lookout Mountain, TN, 2004); (Adelson Gallery, New York, NY)
Exhibition HistoryRockland, ME, 2000, illus. in color, fig. 8; Chadds Ford, PA, Brandywine River Museum, "Romance in Conflict, N. C. Wyeth's Civil War Paintings," Jan. 22-March 20, 2011
References
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 211; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.743, p. 379
Curatorial Remarks"I worked this morning, putting the finishing touches upon my conception of Lincoln -- reading his second inaugural address, flanked by Gideon Wells (sic), Stanton, Chief Justice Chase, Andrew Johnson, committee of arrangements, secret service, diplomatic corps etc. etc. It was an interesting task and gave me my first opportunity to interpret Lincoln. Being for a school history I had to be rather conservative. Would liked it better if I had felt free to seek for more of an impressionistic result, but dared not do it on this canvas. I get considerable pleasure painting pronounced character heads" (N. C. Wyeth to Andrew Newell Wyeth, Nov. 14, 1919, Wyeth Family Archives) In 1945, Wyeth painted another, idealized picture of Lincoln giving the same address (NCW 1205).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. Transparency directly from painting; 2. As reproduced in America, A History of Our Country, by William J. Long (Boston: Ginn & Co., 1923), f. p. 336; 3. Gardner photograph; 4. digital image of letter, N. C. Wyeth to Andrew Newell Wyeth, Nov. 14, 1919
Photo Credit:1. Courtesy of MBNA America; Rick Echelmeyer, Photographer; 2. Digital scan by Brandywine River Museum staff; 3. Library of Congress; 4. Wyeth Family Archives