Lincoln and Family
date: label: Date made
content: after 1880
name: label: depicted
content: Lincoln, Abraham
label: depicted
content: Lincoln, Mary Todd
label: depicted
content: Lincoln, Robert Todd
label: depicted
content: Lincoln, Thomas
label: depicted
content: Lincoln, William Wallace
label: maker
content: Kurz & Allison-Art Studio
notes: label: Description
content: In the years following Lincoln’s assassination, lithographic prints depicting the Lincoln family became popular among the Northern American public, often produced as commemoratives during anniversary celebrations. Since the family never sat for a formal portrait, artists relied on earlier photographs of its members to create their compositions, portraying the family members as they would have appeared at the start of Lincoln’s presidency. This post-1880 black and white print depicts the family members as they would have appeared at the start of Lincoln’s presidency. At left, a bespectacled President Lincoln sits reading from a book. Opposite him, sits Mary Todd Lincoln, holding a rose on her lap. Between them stand their three children, Tad, Willie, and Robert. In the background, the Capitol building is visible between two segments of drapery. By the time this print was produced sometime after 1880, Robert was the only surviving Lincoln child, Willie having died in 1862 and Tad in 1871.
label: Description
content: This print was produced by the lithography firm of Kurz & Allison. Louis Kurz (1835–1921) was an Austrian immigrant who settled in Chicago during the 1850s, where he formed a partnership with Henry Seifert of Milwaukee. He later fought for the Union Army during the Civil War. After the conflict he co-founded the Chicago Lithographic Company. When the company’s assets were destroyed during the Chicago Fire of 1871, Kurz started a new business with his partner, financial backer, and business manager, Alexander Allison. Their partnership is noted for producing a commemorative print series of Civil War battle scenes, several of which are in the NMAH’s collections.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Illinois, Chicago
topic: label: depicted
content: Children
label: depicted
content: Family
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
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content: Clothing & Accessories
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content: American Civil War Prints
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content: Art
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content: Peters Prints
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content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.2594
label: catalog number
content: 60.2594
label: accession number
content: 228146
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: image: 16 1/2 in x 23 in; 41.91 cm x 58.42 cm