Transcripts For CSPAN3 Painting Abraham Lincoln 20240713

She first did her First Painting of Abraham Lincoln in 1983. Since then, she has focused on Abraham Lincoln as her subject and has made many paintings of different styles which people talk about. Been active, being , had hered by cnn paintings in the historical society, along with some other people you might have heard of. Salvador dali, he was there too. Norman rockwell, robert rauschenberg. Certainly in very good company. Sheddition to all of this, lives in gettysburg and has a gallery up there. She is also very active with the fellowship of pennsylvania. At the end well talk about the lincoln fellowship and her hundred nights of taps, a program that she runs in pennsylvania. Please welcome wendy allen. [applause] before i begin, i would like to thank david. I made his life miserable today with this technology. All weekend all weekend, sorry. It is an entire multimedia presentation with video and everything. Im surprised she is still talking to be. Thank you. Take you, john as well. It is an honor to be here tonight. An extreme honor. They could for welcoming me to your event tonight. Multimedia. To be i hope you enjoy. Cover ago, the rent only scholar can be did a book i found this extraordinary little nugget concerning a particular photo session lincoln had for Alexander Gardner studio here in washington on november 8, 18 63. It reads gardener, however, has traditionally received credit for these masterpieces, and those were the five pieces you just saw. Since much do not understand the role of sending lincoln to the gallery and hosed like sarah ames received another credit she deserved. Magazineso wrote in a article that appeared in 1989 in the april issue of civil war times illustrated titled misses ames and mr. Lincoln. The masterpieces harold is talking about included what most people now agree is the most iconic photo of Abraham Lincoln ever taken. We now call the gettysburg portrait. So called because it was taken just 10, 11 days before he left to dedicate the new National Cemetery. When i read this, my heart nearly jumped out of my body. Another woman, another artist that close to lincoln wanting and working to capture that iconic face, i guess you could say i had been starving for another womans voice. What i would not have given to have been a fly on the wall in the studio that day. Clear, i am not out to diminish Alexander Gardners genius in any way, but i feel strongly i must throw a little spotlight on this almost forgotten bit of history. Harold, andanks to how this obscure woman artist was responsible for the greatest most iconic photos, not just of lincoln, but history and photography. Who was Sarah Fisher Ames . We know that ames was a sculptor born in delaware in 1817. She became part of an elite art and Social Circle of boston, rome, washington, dc, then known as washington city. She married a portrait artist and they left the states to go to rome. Mid1800s, it was considered the arch capital of the world. Another reason for going to rome was that women had far more artistic freedom there than they had in the United States. At rome, sarah studied ancient renaissance art and got to study other american artists there working and studying. States ack to the and they came back to the state sometime in the late 1850s. When the war began, sarah volunteered as a nurse with the sanitary commission. She and her husband moved to washington. Wasome accounts 1962, she put in charge of cleaning up the u. S. Capitol building. This is sketchy, but there are thoughts that this is where she was. It was turned into a Union Hospitalized along with other it was turned into a Union Hospital along with other buildings. Trashed asngs were well as the office of the former southern congressman. They urinated on the walls, spit floor. On the when sarah started mucking out the building among other things, meat that had been left rotting. Some scholars think that this is she becameere friends with president lincoln, a regular visitor to d. C. Hospitals. While she gave a lot of time to the war effort, she was still a working artist. That some point, she had tried to persuade the president to sit with her so that she could create a bust from life. Lincoln was too busy. He did not have time to sit for the sculpture. He also felt that she want to do a classical portrait and he felt it wasnt a good idea to have a woman sculpture artist watching him not having clothing on top. That was not a proper way to interact. Ofagreed to have a series portraits taken him of him at the city appeared on november 8, come 1863, lincolns private secretary escorted misses ames to gardner studio. President lincoln den John Nicollet soon arrived after them. There are two conflicting stories. Noah brooks in 1895 describes being there that day. Hegets it wrong, though it gets the date wrong and a lot of people including myself dont believe he was there. He was wreck a letting recollecting much later than the time. He says lincoln was sitting if you see the photo you see what looks like an envelope, he copy oft was everetts the gettysburg address but at that point, everett was still working on the speech. I dont think brooks was there. Nikolaisothing in diary to suggest he was there, although brooks does say he was there. Anyway. John hayes lincoln and john soon arrived after him. Were paid photographs for by misses ames. I believe she retains copyright to those two images. A little different in those days. The copyright to both. The lincoln gettysburg was hers, often discussed in art history as being the first rate modern photograph. I believe, s2 others, the photo was taken under strict direction of misses ames forgetting exact facial measurements. She didnt have the right measurement spirit you know lincolns face. She wanted exacting measurements of that phase. Asked gardner to shoot this very close photograph. About howing today gardner probably didnt realize how great the photograph was that he had until someone actually had a tight crop of that beautiful photograph. Initially, the photograph is pretty deep down his chest for misses ames to get the chests dimensions as well. With the aid of these two photographs, Sarah Fisher Ames went on to produce half sized smallscale busts that were crudely modeled and intended for purchase by middleclass collectors. Abraham lincoln was intrigued by that. He thought that for election times, people had his sculpture in their houses. It might help his campaigning. This is what she produce. There produced in europe and sold for between five dollars and 10 a piece. Harold just sold his, i would love to have seen it. They were a hit. Substantiald notoriety and she got more commissions. Now my artist pursuit begins spirit i am an artist and i paint the face of Abraham Lincoln. Winters of 1978 and 1979 connecticut for two of i dont know if anybody remembers, the worst winters i can remember. Wasd no money, and my car pretty broken down. I drove out to california. My older sister who was here today took me in, and it took about a month before i landed an opportunity with a publisher. I found a little studio apartment in california that right now is about a quartermile from google. I did not have any experience. In designer publishing, but they gave me a chance. I was working with interesting intelligent artists. They open my eyes to the art world. Had never had an art class i was intrigued by what they were doing. There is a vibrant arts scene going on in San Francisco at the time. I was motivated so i bought some canvases, oil paints command i created some really bad art. My paintings were awful. Had anever painted or art class, and i did not know what i was doing. Attended the first cwi, civil war into student Civil War Institute at gettysburg college. Were 20 of us, we had a blast. Institute rekindled my love for lincoln. Too theas awakening me fundamental issue i was having with modern and postmodern art, that was that it lacked representation of history. I returned to the bay area and painted by first lincoln. An artist must innovate. Abstractd , ifssionist once wrote the artist did not desire to change all art, he would never get past his love for the artist who first inspired him and be able to pages on picture. What is cool about alain duke unique, who is finally getting recognition for her work is that she was friends with john kennedy and would actually this was during the bay of pigs, and she painted him live during this crisis. He loved having his working with her getting his portraits. Show about a a year ago in washington, i dont know if anybody saw that but it was incredible they had this piece and it was incredible. I think she is just marvelous. A chance to go to which currently curates western art from all around the western world. I love modern art and i love the cookie crazy i love it. Modernthers me about art, postmodern art is that it just lacks history. It seemed to me if contemporary turned had intentionally its back on history. Ignoreded how good they the most important attributes that differentiate us from all other living species on this earth. Our grand sense of history. At the same time, i started to closely study other painters work. I had a lot of catching up to do. There are a handful of artists that really inspired my work. Inspires me to paint. A wayne tebow. As he was in San Francisco. Painting applications and use of color are staggeringly beautiful. There is one of my lincolns mimicking his style. I want to see his paintings and see how they work and then apply it to what i want to do. Another westas coast painter, nathan olivera. He just passed away two years ago. Figures feel transparent to me and beautiful. This is work that ive done. Ased on his style and then there is ellen mcgee. He lives in maine. I got a chance to work with alan when i was in publishing. He is an excellent illustrator but he also does these paintings of rocks. I dont know if you are familiar, but they are china gigantic canvases about half that wall, and all he does have these paintings of rocks. Every painting is the same. When i saw he had a show at the san of modern art. I was like, you can six to one subject and do it over and over again. You can see it is the repetition of the same subject to me, very inspiring. And then of course there is any warhol. I love andy warhol, from pittsburgh, so my. So am i. He loved to work with other painters. I left his sense of pop style. My most favorite picture, van gogh. I dont know if you notice there is a new van gogh that was just not discovered, but after five years they decided it is his work. It is in amsterdam. It was a news story that broke today. Fascinating story. And then, i am completely mesmerized with the female abstract expressionist who are now coming into their own. Lots of big shows. When i first started studying michael west, they only had nine of her paintings are now they now you can find them a love the place. Shename was karin west but changed it because she was in new york in the 40s painting with the big boys and she wanted to participate and she felt she would have a better chance of she had a masculine name. Her works are amazing. People dont know that much about her but she was an innovator. Really fun. Her work is amazing. That is my lincoln. Wonder how many people here know janet sobel. Probably nobody, right . She is from ukraine, she came the to the states in 1940s. She was a painter, a housewife, a mom, she had five boys. With theed painting kids. Set, and she paint sorted painting with his paint set. That she started painting with his paint set. She starts splattering paint. Date, 1945. Peggy guggenheim discovers her. She painted her living room. Peggy guggenheim who has a gallery is mesmerized by her work. She has a show in new york city. You will never believe who comes to her show, Jackson Pollock. This is when my lincoln spaced on her. Her style of drip. Here are two painting sidebyside. Painting in 1945, Jackson Pollocks First Official drip painting is 1947. He never gives her any credit. She becomes ill and actually moves away. To retirement. She does bid. Her paintings. He never really mentions her or gives her any type of credit. Anythingant to take away from Jackson Pollock come i dont think he invented the splatter painting come i think janet sobel invented splatter certainlybut he borrowed it and applied it beautifully. Supreme modelhe strengths inuline the 1960s that were helping make the transition between world war ii and the 1960s. He was exciting. People loved him. He was a real character. Ast is when he became almost important as his paintings. Art hasdiego museum of this little janet sobel painting. Theyre claiming that is the first splatter painting and they are very adamant of they are very adamant about it. Its just a little thing but they claim its the first. The beginning of abstract expressionism. And then getting back to Sarah Fisher Ames in front of the most iconic photos ever taken. The artist must solve search and i do all the time. Authorsy most favorite is dr. Richard selzer. He was a surgeon in hammond. New haven. He has what is called the exact location of the soul. He concluded that the human soul resides in its wounds. He said whenever he performs surgery on somebody and then he watches them peel, he knew that where he helped that patient overcome their wound is for the persistent, thirst for life he says the strength and character are shaped by the wounds it works to overcome. I love that. Apply that to searching for soul. Cas sold the Founding Fathers established principles of liberty and democracy that overtime were interpreted differently in the north and south. In the north, these principles fostered labor and mistrust, in the south, they produced a dedication to states rights and inoffensive posture on slavery. Census,g to the 1860 there were close to 4 million enslaved humans here in america. The union and Confederate Forces collided in gettysburg. To 5006 hundred 20 soldiers engaged in the battle. Huge numbers of camp labor burgers including 10,00030,000 slaves were forced to serve the southern rbp the union and confederate armies officially reported a combined 7000 dead. And 10, 790 captured or missing. Wounded, approximately 14 died gruesome deaths in impromptu hospitals over the final few months. When the battle ended and surviving soldiers retreated, the battlefield was complete desolation. A nurse arrived from upstate new york and according to historians , the frowning a buckland found wounded men lying on the streets and feared walking on them as she passed by. She remembered like trees uprooted from a tornado. In theected the nurses field she was very young and very tough. Accounts, some great arguments with doctors and so on p but she was very tough. I visited the battleground on vacations and for the first time soon after the conflict wind the evidence of the horrid carnage layer on every hand, i had grown familiar with death. That is a picture of her. I go familiar with death in every shape, but one place so close he could touch me was a sleeve of army blue. The dead hand protruding from the cuff, i could not but feel a moment of shutter. As the throne by a giant hand. Their awful site and battered and decaying condition. The freshly turned earth on every hand denoted the for many, the likes were thrust above the covering and arms and hands were lifted up as though pleading to be assigned enough earth to keep them from the glare of the day. On november 18 come 18 63, president lincoln arrives in gettysburg to make a few appropriate remarks at the dedication of the newly opened National Cemetery the next day. Im going to make my own case for lincoln. I believe the exact location of americas soul can be found in gettysburg. I believe that america] soul was defined by the wounds of the civil war. Born at the precise moment lincoln concluded his gettysburg address. 19, 1863. R the strength and character of nobledrific battle in the nations sacrifices, may true our sacred charters of freedom, the declaration of constitution,the and forever changed the course of American World history. American history and world history. So, why do i obsessively paint lincoln . Because i am painting the exact location of americas soul. [video clip] and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. Thank you. [applause] wendy before i begin the second part of my talk, does anybody have any questions they would like to ask, or yeah . How many lincoln portraits have you painted . Do you have a favorite . Like your favorite child . Wendy they are like my children. I dont put them up for sale. That sounds strange. Until i really happy with them. It favorite. I didnt have a favorite until a few years ago when i painted a very large canvas, that is now in a building you can see it from the square in gettysburg. The corporation that is there bought the painting. I think that is one of my favorites, because it was very fast, very freeflowing. I love the colors. I knew when to stop. Im very happy with that painting. And how many paintings . Probably close to 400 now. Yeah. In the lot of pictures. How they react, and any stories you might have of their reaction . Wendy they go nuts. I do k through college, and even the young kids, i bring gigantic blowups of my paintings and turn them around, and i have the kids help me. We talk about the gettysburg address. Even nursery school. Its just fun. That is one of my most favorite things is doing school visits. And the High School Kids are really interesting, because they want to know about the business of art, so we get into that, and that is kind of fun, too. You do one subject, lincoln. You look at someone like monet who did one subject, the water lilies, i dont know how many times, but they are all the same style. Yours, you have a multitude of different styles. Wendy thats what i thought would be my direction, being a postmodern artist. Take one subject, i do paint other things but my focus has been lincoln. Take one focus and then different styles. Tackle the styles. I thought that was sort of flipping art on, you know, around. You went from one style to another, like, you do one style, then another . Not all one style, then another. Wendy right now because it is the wintertime, and i just want to do my paintings, i have five canvases going on, different styles, even different mediums. Ive been painting a lot. Most of those paintings you saw are done in oil. Ive been painting in acrylic lately. I never liked it that much, until recently. It has been interesting. I like to experiment with media as well. I was trying to figure out how i felt, as each of those pictures went up. For almost all of them, it kept Getting Better and better. Wow. This makes me feel right, good. I had a different reaction to the one where he was faded. Now, you spoke highly of the womans style you were trying to adapt, but seeing him almost disappear from the picture, that to me was not the lincoln that i wanted to see. Wendy i am sorry. [laughter] but perhaps is more emblematic of what we have today, the articles i passed article i passed around, where everybody is trying to grab a piece of the guy and he is disappearing from us as a result. Wendy that has been a theme recently. I have been painting these paintings of lincoln on paneling, wood, then i paint over it and scratch off the paint, as if trying to find lincoln again. To your point, the one about you mentioned about being faded away, that painting doesnt come across really well on the screen as it does in real life when you see the painting. It was really, really hard to do. That was one of the most difficult paintings id ever done. There was very little difference between the color palette, but you can still tell it is lincoln. Very difficult painting. What are you feeling, when you paint more vibrant, or less vibrant . Wendy sheer joy. When i was in high school or college, i was an athlete and they talk about being in the zone, that muscle memory feeling. I think when i paint [indiscernible] wendy once or twice here. But that same sort of feeling where you are not really thinking. You are just painting. You have an obsession about looking at him. Something about his eyes, the eyes are not symmetrical, but there is a sadness, there is a depth. Give us your input on just capturing his eyes in all these different styles . Wendy i think we can all feel that way, when we look at his portraits. Most of the photographs taken for artist scrap, you cant, you know, its funny. All the stories about him being feeling he was ugly, and being ugly, nothing could be further from the truth for me. Hes one of the most human, beautiful faces i have ever seen, and yeah, that one eye that floats and, well, they said he was very good in the camera. He loved having his photo taken. It was once described, it was like he was looking down the barrel of a gun. He was very good at having his photograph taken, and he loved it. But he has a stunning face. Theres not a even though it feels very flawed, it is not flawed at all, and i think you can get a sense from those photographs of his compassion and empathy. I am maybe reading too much, but i do. It is a very trusting face, i think. You look at other photos taken during that time, even with the same black and white feeling, and you dont get that same feeling you get from lincoln. And maybe that is because of all the great things he did. But, he has a wonderful face. I am just drawn to it. It is just beautiful. A beautiful, american face. The other thing in the gallery, we get people from all over the world coming to the gallery. People love lincoln. Oh my goodness. We had friends come from china, visitors. They have to leave with a poster of the gettysburg address with one of my paintings. They have to leave with the gettysburg address, it is just marvelous. Any other questions . I will move on to my next presentation. It is much shorter, about my 100 nights of taps. Let me just get that. I might need your help, david. Ill first explain. My work with the lincoln fellowship. Should work. Wendy thank you. Im the Vice President of the lincoln fellowship of pennsylvania and our main dedication day. We put on dedication day november 19, every year, annually, and invite speakers. It is a Wonderful Program. I am sure some of you have already been to dedication day. I also have the honor of being the emcee, which i love, and it has been a real honor to do that. We also contribute to the traveling trunk the National Park Service Sends to schools, a Wonderful Program and we support that. Henry also supports, you know the Lincoln Statue down in the square . That is our statue and we maintain that statute. I think that has to be one of the even though gettysburg is the largest statue garden in the world, i think that statue in the square is probably the most photographed statue in gettysburg with tourists. Then, a few years ago, this will be our fourth year, ill just begin with the program. It is 100 nights of taps. Gettysburg, this year will be 2020. In the summer of 2001, i visited the very special world war i battlefield in ypres, belgium. After touring the battlefield, i witnessed the most amazing ceremony. I witnessed the nightly sounding of the last closing of the gate at ypres, its full name is the memorial to the missing, dedicated to the british and commonwealth soldiers killed in ypres during world war i whose graves are unknown. In year after the inauguration 1928, a at the menin gate memorial, a number of prominent citizens in ypres decided there should be a way to find and express their gratitude to of the belgian nation towards those who died for its freedom and independence. They chose to honor the brave by sounding the last post every evening at 8 00, this is fascinating, except for the occupation by the germans during world war ii, when the ceremony was conducted in surrey, england, this ceremony has been carried on uninterrupted since july 1928. When the germans occupied ypres, they moved the ceremony to england. They never missed a night. The evening the polish forces liberated ypres in the second world war, the ceremony was resumed at the menin gate in despite the fact of heavy fighting still taking place on the other side of town. In 2009, i brought the idea of this type of ceremony to the Gettysburg National Military Park, and was graciously turned down. Clearly, i know why. Because i didnt have enough thought behind it, and put too much of the burden of the program with the already burdened park service. But i carried the idea around me every day. I broughtmer of 2016 the idea in the form of a more fleshedout proposal to the lincoln fellowship during one of our summer retreats. I got the boards full support, and then i reached out to bugler,rgs great jeffrey spangler, then he put me in touch with mr. Villanueva, maybe some of you know him. He is a noun bugler. He has probably the most renowned bugler in america, very amazing. He was in my studio the next day and he gave his 100 support to the program. Hes retired from the United States air force, where he served 23 years as a trumpeter, a drum major, and staff arranger with the United States air force band in washington, d. C. Hes nationally and internationally recognized as the leading expert on military bugle calls. Finally, in 2017 we launched 100 nights of taps, gettysburg. So every evening between memorial day and labor day at 7 00 p. M. , you can relinquish the noise and pressures of the day by strolling through the 17 sacred acres of the Gettysburg National Military Park ceremony to witness the sounding of taps. Ive had the honor to participate in this moving ceremony almost 300 times. Even though the actual ceremony stays the same, every evening is different. These gifted musicians and buglers whose patriotism brings them to the ceremony to honor our veterans by sounding taps, a taps. They sound the one minute call of gratitude to the interred and a one minute call for the guests in attendance. These musicians travel from all over the nation to be there, and i am overwhelmed by the love and their love and devotion. Thanks to our fellowship board member can, we also honor veterans and active Service Members in the audience by bringing them up to the front to pose with the bugler. This should make us all feel really good. Large groups of tourists, along with local regulars, make their way to the ceremony. I also witness every bugler greeting each and every one after the ceremony. Interestingly, many of the tourists are from different countries, and they are equally moved by this solemn ceremony, by the sacrifice of the brave soldiers buried here in the gettysburg National Cemetery, and they are deeply moved by the words spoken by lincoln in 1863. They want to stand where he stood, and this should make us all feel really good. By late august, shade covers the spot where i stand to introduce the bugler, and i can finally see the audience without squinting. Nature in the cemetery is at rest. It is quiet, it is beautiful. It is the very definition of american elegance. It is calm and serene. The 17 sacred acres create a place that should make us all better people. My goal for the program is the same as last year, commitment to strengthening its core components, most notably through financing to make sure this program endures. Im in the process of reaching out to gettysburg hotels to offer reduced rates for buglers. Mcdonalds offers our buglers free meals, which is really cool. And this meant a lot to our participants. But ultimately, i just want to get out there and fund raise. One of the most beautiful scenes to unfold at the monument occurs in late august. This beautiful monument comes wrapped, and by the way, this is the symbolic place where lincoln delivered the gettysburg address. The beautiful monument becomes wrapped in shade, except for the liberty statue at its top. Even during my presentation, before the bugler sounds taps, i stop the ceremony and make the people in the audience look, because they are not seeing the statue, and when they see the statue i can hear an audible gasp in the audience when they see how beautiful it looks at the very top, lit up like that. It is a stunning sight. In its most organic display, i stand in honor of the ultimate sacrifice given for freedom by the soldiers interred here, and by the quiet, bright light of lincolns brief but enduring address. I give thanks to the lincoln fellowship and the taps for veterans and the Gettysburg National Military Park for supporting this poignant ceremony and supporting the chance for all of us to come together to honor the brave in quiet light. [indiscernible] that we here resolve that these dead should not have died in vain. That this nation under god shall have a new birth of freedom, and the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. [applause] wendy thank you. [applause] you have anymore more questions for wendy . I hope you will come and join us this summer for 100 nights of taps. It is a beautiful ceremony. Thank you. [applause] wendy, thank you very much. Withof our meetings deal talking about lincoln as a man of ideas. What you have shared with us tonight, i found profoundly being moving in realizing how that man is portrayed, the image that he leaves is as important as supporting the words we know he left with us. The idea of the taps program bringing into current generations, down to the last generation, the impact of his words at gettysburg, is astounding. Thank you very much for what you have done, and for sharing that with us tonight. Id like you to accept this token of our appreciation. Thank you very much. [applause] wendy thank you very much. Is there any other business to come before us this evening . Then i declare this meeting of the Lincoln Group of the District Of Columbia adjourned. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] monday American History tv is life at 1 a. M. Eastern from mount vernon, the home and museum of our first president. With the ceo of mount vernon. Also, it is the start of easy him week. Highlighting museum with exhibits exploring the american story. Watch American History tv and be sure to watch museum week or next week on American History tv on cspan3. On lectures in history, university of maryland professor Christopher Bonner teaches the class about the concept of power in the antebellum slave society. Societies. He explores the different ways owners and enslaved people exerted or expressed their will and looks at how these dynamics played out in the context of individual plantations. He also discusses how the invention of the cotton gin and