Franklin Courter, Lincoln The President, Oil Paint Portrait, On Board

Description

Franklin Courter painted over 25 oil paintings of Abraham Lincoln. This one, Lincoln the President shows Courter’s particular talents in capturing the man himself. His knowledge of Lincoln’s physiognomy, along with his passion for the man are evident in this work. The colors remain both vibrant and warm, causing a true 19^th century quality.  Here certainly is Lincoln the President.

Courter was born in New Jersey, attended Albion Preparatory School of Albion College where he devoted a great deal of time to art. In 1888, he was appointed Professor of Drawing and Painting at Albion College and went on to become Head of the Art Department. He also served as Art Director for the Austin Manufacturing Company in Harvey, IL, from 1896 to 1899. Lincoln became Courter’s enduring passion, producing numerous studies of Abraham Lincoln from 1870 until his death at age 90. He dedicated himself to collecting anything that related to the 16th President, including photographs and life masks.

Courter’s mammoth painting,  Sojourner Truth and Abraham Lincoln shows Lincoln sharing a bible with Truth. The bible was a gift from the African American citizens of Baltimore. The painting was exhibited in the Michigan building at the World Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893.  Commissioned by the Kellogg cereal family, the painting was destroyed during a fire at the fairgrounds a few months after the fair opened.

However, the oil had gained him recognition; a wealthy Armenian immigrant, Dikran Bedikian, then commissioned Courter to paint several Lincoln portraits. 

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.”

Here at the shop we have a name here for people like Courter. We lovingly refer to them as “Lincoln Obsessives.”

The painting is based on a Lincoln photograph taken by Mathew Brady in January of 1864 (O-87c). He had taken approximately five photo images of Lincoln on that day, including the famous “Sanding Pine” likeness.  Some were taken by a multi-lens camera, including this one.

Two extremely small paint scrapes in the coat do not detract from this special oil.

(Abraham Lincoln). Courter, Franklin C.. oil portrait on panel. LINCOLN THE PRESIDENT.  Signed at the lower right by Franklin C. Courter.  A three-quarter, mid-chest view based on a photograph of Lincoln, taken at Brady’s Gallery in Washington, D.C., January 8, 1864 (Ostendorf 87c). 17’ x 21-1/4” unframed.