Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, composition drawing
Alternate Title(s):Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, composition drawing
Medium: Charcoal and graphite on paper
Date: 1945
Dimensions:
48 1/2 × 37 in. (123.2 × 94 cm)
Brandywine Museum of Art, Bequest of Carolyn Wyeth, 1996
Accession number: 96.1.533
Research Number: NCW: 2045
InscribedLower left: SKETCH / N. C. WYETH; verso, along top edge: corn husker / P. F. / Lincoln / speaking / under / flag
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth; Carolyn Wyeth
Curatorial RemarksThe genesis of this composition and the source material consulted are explained in the undated draft of a letter to Sidney Mendelsohn of American Artists Company (Wyeth Family Archives, prior to April 1945): "It strikes me most emphatically that it would be a pity not to place the face and figure of Lincoln in the open air and therefore be able to use the effect of sun which so (phenomenally ?) lighted up his face and figure when he began his address. The monumental figure and face (part-figure perhaps) against the heavens of luminous and (brooding?) cloud from the heavens lighted by a (illegible) sun with a majestic fragment of the flag, gently moving, dropped in from the top of the design. (This would not be far-fetched for within a few yards of Lincoln as he read his inaugural and not much above his head, a large flag hung from a slanting staff.) In this rough word outline lies I believe the substance of an impressive painting."
A study or alternate design in charcoal (NCW 1206) is privately held and NCW 1205 is the finished painting.
A study or alternate design in charcoal (NCW 1206) is privately held and NCW 1205 is the finished painting.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:photography directly from artwork
Photo Credit:Rick Echelmeyer