FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CHRYSLER MUSEUM COMMEMORATES ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WITH TWO PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWS HONORING GREAT AMERICAN LEADER
NORFOLK, Va. (January 14, 2015) – In conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the end of the
Civil War, the Chrysler Museum presents two photography exhibitions exploring the life and
legacy of President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865). Shooting Lincoln: Photography and the
Sixteenth President and Greta Pratt: Nineteen Lincolns open on February 10, in the
Museum’s Frank Photography Galleries (G. 228). Both shows will remain on view through July
5, 2015. Admission is free.
“Abraham Lincoln was not camera-shy,” says Alex Mann, Brock Curator of American Art, who
curates both exhibitions. “As our nation remembers Lincoln’s achievements and the anniversary
of his assassination, these exhibitions bring us face-to-face with this great leader.”
Shooting Lincoln: Photography and the Sixteenth President
Long before an assassin’s bullet struck Lincoln on April 14, 1865, dozens of photographers had
aimed their cameras at the president. Lincoln’s political career coincided with major scientific
advances in photography, allowing Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, and other photographers
to capture his image in studio portraits, at the White House, and on the battlefields of the Civil
War. After his death, photos of Lincoln’s funeral ceremonies helped the nation grieve and heal.
The exhibition presents more than 70 rarely exhibited works from the Chrysler Museum’s rich
photography collections. The Museum has long been a leader in scholarship on Civil War
photography, beginning in 1991 with its groundbreaking exhibition on Alexander Gardner
(1821–1882). As an assistant to the famed photographer Mathew Brady, and later running his
own studio, Gardner created hundreds of portraits and documentary battlefield shots that
remain iconic and poignant. Shooting Lincoln features more than 20 pictures by Gardner,
including some works, such as President Lincoln on Battle-field of Antietam (1862), recently lent
to the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art for their 2013
blockbuster exhibition The Civil War and American Art.
Other key pictures in Shooting Lincoln have never been exhibited. These include a close-up
image of Lincoln’s elaborately decorated funeral hearse, newly identified as the work of the
Philadelphia photographer Alexander Wilson Henszey More fresh faces appear in a stereocard
celebrating Lincoln’s heroic efforts to abolish slavery. Featuring portraits of the president and all
of the 157 senators and representatives who voted in favor of the 13th Amendment, this rare
1865 photomontage by George May Powell is a recent Museum purchase.
“These pictures have been studied by historians and by Hollywood,” says Mann. “Lincoln the
Great Emancipator, Lincoln the Commander-in-Chief, Lincoln the family man—cameras
captured every face of Honest Abe. Our show brings them all together.”
Many of the finest works in this exhibition are from the Chrysler Museum’s David L. Hack
Collection of vintage Civil War photos. Acquired in 1998, the Hack Collection is renowned for
both its high quality and size, comprising over 350 prints. Highlights of the group include its
large-scale “Imperial” photos, such as Alexander Gardner’s February 5, 1865 double portrait of
Lincoln and his youngest son Tad. Glass plate negatives allowed production of these big, crisp
albumen prints, and some are preserved on their original paper mounts.
“The scarcity and fragility of these photographs cannot be overstated,” Mann stresses. “If
exposed to too much light, old prints can easily become faded or discolored, but some of the
photos in this show are remarkably sharp and fresh. We’re excited to share these treasures.”
The exhibition concludes with chilling images of the conspirators who orchestrated Lincoln’s
murder. Alexander Gardner’s Adjusting the Ropes (1865) records the final seconds before the
execution of the assassins, with blazing July sunlight beating down on the prisoners, guards,
and a crowd of witnesses. These photos were the basis for engravings published in newspapers
like Harper’s Weekly, and such early examples of photojournalism are an important dimension
of the show.
“There’s still so much to learn about Lincoln and his world,” says Mann. “Each of these images
has multiple stories—the story of Lincoln, of the photographers who made these works, and of
the citizens who originally purchased and collected them. Our research continues, just as these
photos and Lincoln’s heroism continue to inspire new generations.”
Greta Pratt: Nineteen Lincolns
Abraham Lincoln lives on in the work of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated photographer Greta Pratt.
For the series Nineteen Lincolns (2004-05), Pratt created portraits of modern-day presidential
reenactors from the Association of Lincoln Presenters. A black suit and stove-pipe hat instantly
make each subject recognizable as Honest Abe, despite the diversity of their faces, ages, and
demeanors.
“Everyone is looking at Lincoln during this anniversary year,” says curator Alex Mann. “Greta
Pratt’s work reminds us that this fascination is nothing new, that reenactors have made him an
inspiring presence across our nation for generations.”
Pratt’s Nineteen Lincolns series continues her ongoing concern with the role of historical images
and myths in contemporary American culture. She has traveled throughout the United States to
document local pageants, festivals, and everyday expressions of identity that are in dialogue
with the past. These insightful images received early recognition from the Smithsonian
American Art Museum with the 1994 publication of Pratt’s series In Search of the Corn Queen.
Pratt later published Using History (2005) and The Wavers (2014), and her work has been
collected by the Smithsonian, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and other prestigious public institutions.
Nineteen Lincolns debuted at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in 2005. It has
since been installed at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, the deCordova Sculpture Park and
Museum, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts,
among other venues. In 2007 Pratt became an Associate Professor of Photography at Old
Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., and her work has frequently been on display at ODU’s
Baron and Ellin Gordon Galleries. This exhibition is Pratt’s first at the Chrysler Museum.
As Pratt created Nineteen Lincolns, she interviewed the reenactors to learn what drew them to
this particular famous figure. “They revere Lincoln for his moral character,” says Pratt. “He
embodies one of America’s most cherished tenets—that the common man, through sheer hard
work and determination, can elevate his status in society.”
By pairing this installation with the historical photos in the adjacent exhibition Shooting Lincoln,
the Chrysler Museum brings past and present together, adding a new dimension to Pratt’s work.
“We hope visitors will treat these two shows as a conversation,” says Mann. “What emotions do
you read in Lincoln’s face in the great Alexander Gardner portraits? Which personality traits are
Pratt’s reenactors suggesting?”
“Photographs are powerful both as historical documents and as works of art,” says Mann.
“Come see these images, admire their details, and feel Abraham Lincoln’s enduring presence in
our lives.”
RELATED EXHIBITIONS PROGRAMMING
All programs take place at the Chrysler Museum unless otherwise indicated.
Greta Pratt: Third Thursday Artist Talk
Thursday, February 19 at 6:30 p.m.
The award-winning photographer discusses her work and particularly her series Nineteen
Lincolns in this special lecture. Cost: Free for Museum Members, children, and students with
current ID, $5 for all others.
The Louis Guy History Series Lecture
Shooting Lincoln with Alex Mann
Wednesday, March 11 at 7 p.m. at the MacArthur Memorial, 198 Bank Street, Norfolk
The Norfolk Historical Society and the Chrysler’s Friends of Historic Houses sponsor these
monthly talks on Norfolk’s rich history on the second Wednesday of each month. Light
refreshments follow the question-and-answer session. Cost: Free.
Memorial Gallery Talk with Alex Mann
Tuesday, April 14 at 1 p.m.
Our Brock Curator of American Art leads a tour of the Chrysler’s two Lincoln exhibitions and
answers questions on the 150th anniversary of the sixteenth president’s death. Cost: Free.
Tintype Portrait Workshop
Saturday, April 18 from 10:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m. or 1:15–4:15 p.m.
Artist Miki Ross will photograph 15 groups (maximum each group: 2 adults, 2 children), then
explain the development process. Participants will tour the Shooting Lincoln exhibition, and
each group will take home a 4” x 5” tintype photograph.
Space is limited to 15 groups and preregistration is required at https://reservations.chrysler.org
under RSVP Central. Cost: $50 per group ($40 for Chrysler Museum Members)
ABOUT THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM OF ART
The recently expanded Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, is one of America’s most
distinguished mid-sized art museums, with a nationally recognized collection of more than
30,000 objects, including one of the great glass collections in America. The core of this
collection was given to the Museum by Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., an avid art collector who donated
thousands of objects from his private collection to the Museum in 1971. In the years since
Chrysler’s death in 1988, the Museum has dramatically extended its campus and developed
new ties with the Norfolk community. It now has rapidly growing collections, especially in the
fields of contemporary glass, American art, and photography. The Museum’s Frank
Photography Galleries routinely display highlights from the Chrysler’s broad collection of over
4,000 photographs, as well as traveling shows.
In 2011, the Chrysler opened a full-service glass studio with a 560-pound capacity furnace, a full
hot shop, a flameworking studio, nine annealing ovens, and a coldworking shop. In addition, the
Chrysler administers two Federal-period historic houses in downtown Norfolk: the Moses Myers
House and the Willoughby-Baylor House.
The Chrysler Museum of Art, One Memorial Place, Norfolk, and its Perry Glass Studio at 745
Duke St., are open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
The Historic Houses on E. Freemason Street are open weekends. Admission is free. For more
information on exhibitions, events, and programs, visit www.chrysler.org or call (757) 664-6200.
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For more information or high-resolution images, contact Virginia Hilton at (757) 340-7425, (757)
232-2178, or virginia@themeridiangroup.com.