It is reasonable to assume that several, Chicago museums have art about America’s Civil War. On the Civil War in Art website, viewers who have access to the internet can view some of this art without attending museums. In Part I, my art review details examples of five, art types: a daguerreotype, an engraving, a lithograph, a sculpture and two tintypes.
Frederick Douglass is a daguerreotype by Samuel J. Miller (1822-1888). Measuring 5½ in. x 4 1/8 in., this early photograph depicts Mr. Douglass staring at the camera. A moderately ornate frame, probably wood, encloses the photograph. This is Realism Style art. The actual daguerreotype is part of an Art Institute of Chicago collection.
The Fugitives Are Safe in a Free Land is an engraving by Hammatt Billings (1819-1874). This website does not state this piece’s dimensions, but it has a rectangular shape. The picture is part of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, so it is Symbolism Art. This art is part of the Newberry Library collection.
Abraham Lincoln, Sixteenth President of the United States is a colorful lithograph. (I wonder what materials the artists used to produce the red, brown and blue colors.) Currier and Ives (1834-1907) produced this artwork. Measuring 14.24 in. x 10 in., this piece depicts Lincoln staring slightly to the right of the artist(s). This art is Realism Style, and is part of the Chicago Public Library collections.
Daniel Webster by Thomas Ball (1819-1911) is a small, bronze sculpture that measures 30 in. x 12 in. x 11 in. This statue depicts the American statesman and orator, not the lexicographer, Noah Webster, who has his last name on the covers of many dictionaries. This representation of Daniel Webster stands stiffly, and has a Napoleon Bonaparte pose—placing his right hand inside jacket’s front. This art is Realism Style and Expressionism Style. The sculpture is part of an Art Institute of Chicago collection.
Portrait Photographs of Mrs. John A. Logan and Dollie Logan are two tintypes depicting two women. John Alexander Logan (1826-1886) produced this art that has 1 1/8 in. diameters for each tintype. As you have probably already determined from other, early portraits that you have seen elsewhere, the subjects are staring unsmilingly at the camera. This art is part of a Chicago History Museum collection. This is Realism Style art.
All of the aforementioned art has tangible and intangible links to America’s Civil War. The people that the art depicts actually existed, and certain ones, like Abraham Lincoln, were instrumental in this war’s outcome. Some of this art gives excellent examples of early, photographic styles.
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