Winter Auction 2015 closing February 7
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/8/2015
Mounted albumen photograph, 7" x 9" on a 8.5 x 12.5" mount, titled "PRESIDENT LINCOLN AND HIS SON THADDEUS. / THE LAST PHOTOGRAPH THE PRESIDENT SAT FOR" and photograph by Alexander Gardner and published by Philip & Solomons, Washington, D.C.,1865.
A touching portrait, taken during Lincoln's last sitting for a photographer. Lincoln, accompanied by his son Thomas ("Tad"), went to Alexander Gardner's studio on Saturday, February 5, 1865 with portrait painter Matthew Wilson, who had been commissioned to paint the President's portrait. With little time to spare to pose for a painting, the artist required some recent images of Lincoln from which to base his work. The resulting painting, a formal bust-length portrait, was unremarkable and mostly forgotten today.
The original portrait was set against a white wall to allow Gardner to embellish the image with new background of the Washington Monument (still under construction) and the Potomac River. Lincoln's son Tad stands beside his father in a military uniform made especially for him. LOA from University Archives.
This lot has a Reserve Price that has not been met.