October Legends and Americana Ending November 14th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/15/2015
Legendary sports artist Bruce Stark (1933-2012) often dabbled in political illustration during his 22-year career with the N.Y. Daily News—and there's even a well-known photo of him presenting a caricature to none other than President Nixon. But once Stark retired from cartooning in the 1980s and turned his full-time attention to realist portraiture, he focused almost exclusively on sports icons, foregoing political figures except for this majestic rendering of Honest Abe.
The 20" x 24", oil-on-canvas piece captures that most famous depiction credited to Mathew Brady's associate Anthony Berger on February 9, 1864, and used on the Five Dollar bill from 1928 to 1995. It has also been dubbed Lincoln's "Most Satisfactory Likeness" due to eldest son Robert Lincoln's remark, "I have always thought [this] Brady photograph of my father...to be the most satisfactory likeness of him.” Wisdom, dignity, sincerity, compassion, gravitas—all those quintessential qualities which define the Great Emancipator are resplendent here in the deft brush work of Bruce Stark. "He was the best," says Bruce's son Ron Stark, who now carries the torch of the family tradition. "I could never aspire to be his equal. He sets the standard for me and I think for all sports artists."