Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 13-20, 1999

Volume 28, Number 4

Exhibit reveals the many faces of Abe Lincoln

His bearded silhouette is familiar to every U.S. schoolchild and to anyone who has ever counted their pennies.

But there are many less well-known images of Abraham Lincoln, and the public will have the opportunity to view those visages in a new exhibit opening on Thursday, Sept. 16, at the Jonathan Edwards College (JE) master's house, 70 High St.

"The Face of Lincoln" features 37 images of the 16th president of the United States that were printed by School of Art Dean Richard Benson for a book of the same name by James Mellon, which was published by Viking Press in 1979.

This is the second time that JE has hosted an exhibit of prints made by the School of Art Dean, according to Gary Haller, master of the college and the Becton Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, who writes in the exhibit catalogue: "So it is again that we have on display photographs that have a richness of detail, of grays, and of tonality that surely exceeds that of any previous prints from the same negatives, for these are again the work of Richard Benson."

The exhibit catalogue also includes an essay by Benson, who notes: "Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809, and photography entered the world in 1839. By the time Lincoln reached his prime in the mid eighteen forties, photography had matured enough to give us a wonderful record of his appearance."

The JE exhibit traces the effect of time and experience on the face of the man who led the country through one of its most tumultuous periods, notes Benson.

The earliest image in the exhibit was created from a "pale and small Daguerreotype made in 1846 that now resides, in a much scratched condition, in the Library of Congress," explains the Dean. "The newly elected U.S. Representative from Illinois has a strong face, one full of confidence and clear-eyed intelligence, but the most surprising aspect of this picture his how normal the young man appears. He bears little resemblance ... to the strange and bearded icon who populates history books, the walls of municipal offices, and even a large mountainside in the west."

An image from 1858, showing Lincoln's "large frame, dressed in black, holding up that strange and riveting head" reveals "someone unlike anyone we have ever seen," writes Benson, "ungainly and asymmetrical, but terrifying in the intensity of his stare."

In the final photograph ever taken of Lincoln, made in 1865, "Lincoln looks out with a weariness and exhaustion that pervades the photograph," says Benson. "We can only imagine what he has been through, and the face must be revealing the toll that the war and his years presiding over a ruptured Union have extracted. Through the screen of tiredness and wisdom comes the unavoidable recognition of human fragility, of the flesh being beaten down in its service to a mind that would not be altered from its driven fate. The great man has literally been consumed by the task of his Presidency, and the United States has been saved for future generations."

There will be three master's teas at JE in conjunction with the exhibit. The first, at 4 p.m. on Sept. 16, will feature Richard Benson and Alan Trachtenberg, the Neil Grey Jr. Professor of English and American Studies, talking about "The Changing Face of Abraham Lincoln." This event will be followed by a reception, 5-7 p.m.

"Lincoln as Thinker" will be the theme of the second tea, which will be held at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 30. The featured speakers will be David Bromwich, the Bird White Housum Professor of English, and Steven Smith, professor of political science and master of Branford College.

The final tea, at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 21, will feature Richard W.B. Lewis, the Neil Grey Jr. Professor Emeritus of Rhetoric and professor emeritus of English and American studies, talking about "American Portraits: Visual and Verbal."

All three teas are open to the public free of charge.

"The Face of Lincoln" will be on display through Sunday, Nov. 21. The exhibit is open for viewing 4-6 p.m. on Thursdays or by appointment by calling 432-0356.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

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Deborah Thomas is named to new posts in Woodbridge Hall

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