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Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln
Artist
Leopold Grozelier, 1830 - 1865
Copy after
Thomas Hicks, 18 Oct 1823 - 8 Oct 1890
Sitter
Abraham Lincoln, 12 Feb 1809 - 15 Apr 1865
Date
1860
Type
Print
Medium
Lithograph on paper
Dimensions
Image: 55.5 x 40.5cm (21 7/8 x 15 15/16")
Sheet: 64.1 × 46.8cm (25 1/4 × 18 7/16")
Mat: 81.3 x 66cm (32 x 26")
Topic
Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie\Bowtie
Abraham Lincoln: Male
Abraham Lincoln: Law and Crime\Lawyer
Abraham Lincoln: Military and Intelligence\Soldier
Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\President of US
Abraham Lincoln: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Environmentalist
Abraham Lincoln: Business and Finance\Businessperson\Merchant
Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Illinois
Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\Government official\Surveyor
Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\State Senator\Illinois
Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\Government official\Postmaster
Abraham Lincoln: Crafts and Trades\Boat builder
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.80.44
Exhibition Label
Born Hodgenville, Kentucky
Abraham Lincoln was one of the first politicians to fully embrace portrait photography to advertise his candidacy; the Republican Party used a cut down image of Lincoln taken from Mathew Brady’s 1860 photograph and placed in a small oval frame to create one of the first political campaign pins. However, the older print and lithographic techniques for duplicating and disseminating images were still in place: not only were they cheaper and easier to distribute than photographs, but also newspapers and journals still lacked the ability to print photographs. This lithograph is a composite, probably based on earlier images by printmaker Thomas Hicks and photographer Alexander Hesler; the lines in Lincoln’s face that we can see in photographs have been smoothed out by the printmaker.
Nacido en Hodgenville, Kentucky
Abraham Lincoln fue uno de los primeros políticos que adoptaron sin reservas los retratos fotográficos para publicitar sus candidaturas. De hecho, el Partido Republicano seleccionó una foto de él tomada en 1860 por Mathew Brady para reducirla y colocarla en un pequeño marco ovalado, creando así uno de los primeros pins en la historia de las campañas políticas. No obstante, las anteriores técnicas de grabado y litografía para duplicar y diseminar imágenes persistían, pues no solo eran más baratas y fáciles de distribuir que las fotos, sino que los periódicos y revistas aún no estaban equipados para imprimir fotos. Esta litografía es un retrato compuesto, probablemente basado en imágenes anteriores del grabador Thomas Hicks y el fotógrafo Alexander Hesler. El grabador suavizó las arrugas del rostro de Lincoln, que sí se observan en las fotografías.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view