Alexander Gardner
The Lincoln Conspirators, 1865
Retouched albumen prints (5)
Each approx. 7 x 6 inches on slightly larger mounts
With pencil inscriptions, dated 1869, on verso.
3 with remnants of original backing paper and second inscriptions over the first.
With pencil inscriptions, dated 1869, on verso.
3 with remnants of original backing paper and second inscriptions over the first.
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Alexander Gardner’s four month endeavor to photographically document the aftermath of the Lincoln assassination came to him through his his relationship with Allan Pinkerton, whose intelligence agency was the precursor...
Alexander Gardner’s four month endeavor to photographically document the aftermath of the Lincoln assassination came to him through his his relationship with Allan Pinkerton, whose intelligence agency was the precursor to the Secret Service. Pinkerton granted Gardner unlimited access to the notorious crime’s key people and places.
On April 27th, Gardner arrived at the Washington Navy Yard and boarded the USS Montauk and Saugus, where five of the surviving conspirators were being held, blind-folded and manacled. They were Samuel Arnold, George Atzerodt, Michael O'Laughlen, Lewis Payne (Powell), and Edward Spangler. Below deck, Gardner created a stunning series of portraits of the doomed men, rendering them in frank, human terms. Often noted for their proto-mugshot-like qualities, the works are almost jarringly modern, particularly his photographs of Lewis Payne, who remained remorseless until the day he was hanged.
These photographs were retouched circa 1865, shortly after their creation, to embellish certain aspects often lost in the process of early photographic printing. They were published in a series of composited carte-de-visites, often with John Wilkes Booth featured prominently center, and disseminated to an America reeling from the Civil War and death of Lincoln. These re-worked, miniscule portraits dull the intimate detail seen here, allowing for a profound distance between humanity of the subjects and an angry, mournful public.
On April 27th, Gardner arrived at the Washington Navy Yard and boarded the USS Montauk and Saugus, where five of the surviving conspirators were being held, blind-folded and manacled. They were Samuel Arnold, George Atzerodt, Michael O'Laughlen, Lewis Payne (Powell), and Edward Spangler. Below deck, Gardner created a stunning series of portraits of the doomed men, rendering them in frank, human terms. Often noted for their proto-mugshot-like qualities, the works are almost jarringly modern, particularly his photographs of Lewis Payne, who remained remorseless until the day he was hanged.
These photographs were retouched circa 1865, shortly after their creation, to embellish certain aspects often lost in the process of early photographic printing. They were published in a series of composited carte-de-visites, often with John Wilkes Booth featured prominently center, and disseminated to an America reeling from the Civil War and death of Lincoln. These re-worked, miniscule portraits dull the intimate detail seen here, allowing for a profound distance between humanity of the subjects and an angry, mournful public.
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