Franklin Courter, Lincoln The Candidate, Oil Portrait on Masonite

Description

This oil portrait of Abraham Lincoln is based on the very first image taken of Lincoln after he was nominated as Republican presidential candidate in 1860.  It was used as a frontispiece for J. H. Barrett’s popular campaign biography Life of Abraham Lincoln [Cincinnati, 1860].

Franklin Courter was born in New Jersey and studied art in college. In 1888, he was appointed Professor of Drawing and Painting at Albion College and went on to become Head of the Art Department. Lincoln became Courter’s enduring passion, producing numerous studies of him from 1870 until his death at age 90, collecting anything that related to the 16th President, including photographs and life masks. 

Courter’s mammoth painting of Sojourner Truth gifting a bible to Lincoln was exhibited in the Michigan building at the 1893 World’s Fair, later destroyed by fire. But the oil had gained him recognition. A wealthy Armenian immigrant, Dikran Bedikian, commissioned Courter to paint several Lincoln portraits. His knowledge of Lincoln’s physiognomy, along with his passion for the man, led to over 25 oils over a span of 40 years.

Courter later wrote: “Since that picture [Sojourner Truth] was painted, every angle of the subject has been of interest. All biographies, photographs, and engravings, the life mask, and full descriptions of his complexion and other data are made a deep study, for the sole purpose of realizing as nearly perfect as possible every characteristic.  Over 40 years of almost constant study of Lincoln for historical purposes brings one to be acquainted with his subject.  One may safely say this is a life portrait.”

Excellent Condition.  The colors remain both vibrant and warm, reflecting a true 19^th century “quality”.   “Courter is my favorite of all the Lincoln artists!! –DRW

(Lincoln, Abraham) “Lincoln The Candidate” Oil Portrait on Masonite Panel, Signed “F. C. Courter / Pinxit.” A ¾-bust view based on a photograph by William Marsh, 30 May 1860 Springfield, Il. [O-21].