Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
The Abraham Lincoln Mural (Conferring with Salmon P. Chase)
Alternate Title(s):In the Dark Days of the Civil War; Salmon P. Chase Conferring with Lincoln
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1922
Dimensions:
144 × 120 in. (365.8 × 304.8 cm)
The Langham Hotel, Boston
Accession number: SUPP2000.330
Research Number: NCW: 330
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined) / 1922
ProvenanceFederal Reserve Bank of Boston, 1922-1977; (1977, Federal Reserve Bank moved to new location, leaving murals to subsequent tenants)
References
"Formal Opening of New Boston Federal Reserve Bank," Boston Evening Transcript, April 8, 1922, 4: p. 6; "N. C. Wyeth Completes His Historical Mural Paintings for New Boston Federal Reserve Bank," (Boston, MA) Sunday Herald Magazine, Aug. 6, 1922, illustrated in Rotogravure section; "Greatest Painter of 'Costumed Romance' Once Cowboy,..." (Boston, MA) Sunday Herald, Nov. 12, 1922, illustration in b/w section E, p. 8; The Dearborn Independent, Jan. 20, 1923, reproduced p. 7; "In the Dark Days of the Civil War," Ladies' Home Journal, vol. XL, no. 2 (Feb. 1923), p. 18; "Two Notable Lincoln and Washington Mural Paintings to Be Seen at Federal Reserve Bank," The Boston Globe, Feb. 12, 1923, p. 16, reproduction with caption that explains subject and setting; F. J. Stimson, "Boston of the Future," Scribner's Magazine, vol. LXXXIV, no. 1 (July 1928), p. 9; Anton Kamp, "I Knew Him Well," undated and unpublished manuscript, Brandywine River Museum Library collection, ps. 5-6; Landmark '76, vol. 2, no. 1 (undated), occasional publication of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, illus. in color p. 4 and in b/w p. 2; Betsy James Wyeth, ed., The Wyeths, The Letters of N. C. Wyeth, 1901-1945 (Boston: Gambit, 1971), ps. 678, 680, 683, 685, 690-691, 693; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 159, 277, 283, illustration in b/w p. 160; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), M.13, p. 602
Curatorial RemarksRoger L. Scaife, an editor at Houghton Mifflin Company, introduced R. Clipston Sturgis, the architect for the project, to Wyeth's work. Scaife wrote to Wyeth on March 6, 1920, "It is possible you might secure from [Sturgis] a commission to decorate one or two panels in the new Federal Bank Building here in Boston." (bMS Am 1925 (1962), by permission of the Houghton Library, Harvard University.)
The artist won this commission in late April, 1921 (see NCW to Henriette Zirngiebel Wyeth, April 27, 1921, Boston Public Library, Dept. of Rare Books and Manuscripts). On July 15, the artist wrote to his mother "I have recently read three of the ten volumes of Nicolay and Hay's history of Lincoln, also several other books dealing with his domestic and official life in the White House, besides numerous accounts of his appearance, personality, etc., all particularly related to the early Civil War period. Have studied numerous photographic portraits of the man and also of Chase so that now I feel fairly saturated with their physical appearances, the sound of their voices, their complexities and their characteristic movements, both bodily and facial." (NCW to Henriette Zirngieble Wyeth, July 15, 1921, Wyeth Family Archives)
NCW2652 is the presentation painting for the mural.
The artist won this commission in late April, 1921 (see NCW to Henriette Zirngiebel Wyeth, April 27, 1921, Boston Public Library, Dept. of Rare Books and Manuscripts). On July 15, the artist wrote to his mother "I have recently read three of the ten volumes of Nicolay and Hay's history of Lincoln, also several other books dealing with his domestic and official life in the White House, besides numerous accounts of his appearance, personality, etc., all particularly related to the early Civil War period. Have studied numerous photographic portraits of the man and also of Chase so that now I feel fairly saturated with their physical appearances, the sound of their voices, their complexities and their characteristic movements, both bodily and facial." (NCW to Henriette Zirngieble Wyeth, July 15, 1921, Wyeth Family Archives)
NCW2652 is the presentation painting for the mural.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:1. transparency directly from artwork; 2. Archival photograph (Brandywine River Museum Library 3285a) showing the painting in situ at the Federal Reserve Bank, Boston. On the reverse of this photograph in N. C. Wyeth's hand: Salmon P. Chase conferring / with Lincoln about the / National Bank Act 1863 / (In the cabinet room of / the White House) / Copyrighted by the / Federal Reserve Bank / of Boston
Photo Credit:1. Michael Gould; 2. unknown photographer