Alexander Hesler
Abraham Lincoln

ArtistAmerican, 1823–1895
PrinterAmerican, 1829–1905
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Abraham Lincoln
DateJune 3, 1860, printed 1881 or later
Made inSpringfield, Illinois
MediumPlatinum print from glass negative
DimensionsImage (At open): 9 × 6 15/16 in. (22.9 × 17.7 cm)
Frame (outer): 11 15/16 × 9 15/16 × 3/4 in. (30.4 × 25.2 × 1.9 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Sharon and Del Zogg; and various donors in memory of Ries Daniel
Object number2019.273
Not on view

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Department
Photography
Object Type
DescriptionFew figures in American history are more recognizable or revered than Abraham Lincoln. This image was taken by Alexander Hesler at the old state capitol in Springfield, Illinois, just two weeks after Lincoln’s nomination for President by the Republican National Convention in Chicago, and before the toll of the Civil War imprinted itself on his features. George B. Ayres, who had bought and then sold Hesler’s studio, retained the glass negatives from this sitting, which fortuitously preserved them when the rest of the studio’s contents were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
Provenance[Cowan's Auctions, Cincinnati, June 21, 2019, lot 177]; purchased by MFAH, 2019.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
No inscriptions visible.
Catalogue raisonnéKunhardt AL.1860.5A; Meserve 26; Ostendorf 26; Lorant 20

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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