The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. will stage a new exhibition beginning November 7, 2008 titled "One Life: The Mask Of Lincoln." The purpose of the exhibition is to explore how Lincoln crafted his public persona through the use of images.
The exhibition will feature approximately 30 images, all owned by the Gallery. Included in the exhibition are the famous 1865 "cracked plate" (shown to the left) photograph taken by Alexander Gardner; the 1857 "tousled hair" portrait by an unknown photographer; and the Matthew Brady "Cooper Union" photo, which Lincoln himself considered to be the image which made him president. Additional images include sketches and prints. For more information on the "cracked plate" image, long thought to the be last photo of Lincoln (but not), click here for a description from the Gallery.
The exhibition will run through July 5, 2009. This site from Artdaily.org contains more information about the show.
I wrote about the exhibit on my blog last night which you may find of interest: washingtonspeaks.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI am curious about your explanation about the name of the exhibit, too. It's a great show. The momentum for the celebration of Lincoln's birth Feb. 12 and the Inauguration of Barack Obama has this town in a whirlspin.
Hi Patricia,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this information with me. I hope to make it to Washington to see this exhibit.
My description of the show is a paraphrase of the Gallery's own explanation.
Thanks for reading!