Opening Day Auction Closing May 9th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/10/2015
This is among the most stunning original portrait photographs of Abraham Lincoln extant. Measuring a massive 20 X 27 this was printed by Philadelphia photographer George B. Ayres, circa 1902 from the original negative of this famous photograph taken of Lincoln by photographer Alexander Hesler forty years earlier. This was one of three photographs taken of him during a sitting by Chicago photographer Alexander Hesler who captured the remarkable image of Lincoln on June 3, 1860 in Springfield, Illinois, shortly after his nomination for President. Lincoln said of his portrait at that time, “That looks better and expresses me better than any I have ever seen; if it pleases the people I am satisfied.” Lincoln’s law partner William Herndon quipped, it was so “…essentially Lincolnian; no other artist has ever caught it.” Indeed, it certainly pleased the people so much; Ayres copyrighted this image in 1894 and began to sell prints made from the original negative that he had purchased from Hesler. This particular photograph is the most desirable of those printed by Ayres as it is an oversize, platinum print with a deep blind stamp made in the lower left corner, “G. B. Ayres, Copyright 1894.” It is one of the earliest printed by him and is fully identified on the verso by Ayres, who has inscribed, “Copyright, 1902. George B. Ayres, Artist, Philadelphia, Print No. 10. January 1902,” in quill pen. It should be noted that most prints made by Ayres were of Lincoln in a slightly different pose looking to the side while this image depicts a much more dramatic more forward looking view. Besides most prints made by Ayres were considerably smaller than this, generally 8 X 10; with such a large size as this being considerably rare and valuable. The negative to this famous image survives in the Smithsonian Institution. Lincoln, best known for overthrowing slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment, was the 16th president and first of the Republican Party. Lincoln eventually became one of the most photographed and prominent presidents in our history. However, no image can compete with this photograph as far as fame and grandeur.