Ulysses S. Grant, Imperial Albumen Photograph, Frederick Gutekunst, Photographer

Description

This impressive full-length portrait of General Grant in uniform was made at war’s end, to capture the triumphal hero at the height of his powers. Grant wears a black mourning ribbon tied to his left arm and hanging down, in honor of the recently assassinated Abraham Lincoln.  The portrait shows Grant emulating the pose of Napoleon in Jacques Louis David’s famous Napoleon in his Study (1812). This was a popular a pose for military portraits of the time. 

Gutekunst was known as the “dean of American photographers,” and only Gardner and Brady could equal the quality of his Civil War portraits. Leading politicians and generals flocked to his Philadelphia studio. 

Ulysses S. Grant. Imperial Albumen Photograph. Frederick Gutekunst, (photographer). Philadelphia: April or May 1865. 13” x 7 ½” image; 14-3/4” x 18-1/4” on Gutenkunst mount (worn with abrasion at foot). A good tonality print, signed by the photographer in the negative.