Noreen Grice 617-589-0273 wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> For the past year, I've been doing some research on an oil painting
> and I need your help! The painting is entitled "Lincoln at Gettysburg"
> and was painted by the New England artist Albion Harris Bicknell.
> The scene shows Lincoln giving the Gettysburg address and surrounded
> by 21 life-sized portraits of the most famous American statemen
> and writers of Lincoln's day, many of whom were not actually
> present at Gettysburg. Bicknell completed
> the painting in 1879, although he painted 1876 on it (the year
> he began the work). The dimensions of the painting are
> 10.3 feet x 17 feet (or 123.6 inches x 204 inches) (or 313.9 cm
> x 518.2 cm).
>
> This painting has hung in the Malden Public Library (in Malden, MA)
> since 1884. However, the painting apparently was exhibited
> in several cities. According to a 1947 article in the
> Christian Science Monitor, "after a tour of the principal cities
> of the country, the work was installed in the Malden Public Library."
> I also found a small book entitled "The Exhibition of the
> Historical Painting of Lincoln at Gettysburg by Albion H. Bicknell"
> published in 1879 by the Doll & Richards Co. of Boston, which
> describes the painting. The Doll and Richards Co. also mentions in
> the book that it was selling steel engravings of the work.
>
> Here is where I need YOUR help. Could you PLEASE check through
> your collections records (1879-1884)to see if the "Lincoln at Gettysburg"
> painting was ever on exhibit at your institution?
>
> and...do you know of any copies? I have located one copy
> at Lafayette College but I found a 1940 Parke-Barnet Galleries
> auction booklet which lists a 24 3/4 inch x 40 1/2 inch version on sale.
> I have not been able to locate where this painting ended up.
>
> I have also been in touch with various Lincoln Societies but no one
> there has been able to help. ANY information you can provide would
> be VERY GRATEFULLY APPRECIATED.
>
> Thanks very much,
>
> Noreen Grice
> Charles Hayden Planetarium
> Museum of Science
>
> [log in to unmask]
Hi!  in your search have you talked with Joan Flinspach at The Lincoln
Museum in Fort Wayne IN?  The ph.# is   219/455-3864.  Hope this helps.
Linn Keller