This biography from the Archives of AskART:
| Alban Conant was a portrait painter, writer, and archaeologist who was
born in Chelsea, Vermont (1821) and lived his adult life in New York
City (moving there in 1844), and Troy, New York (remaining until
1857). He then moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was
co-founder of the Western Academy of Art and began his interest in
archaeology.
During the 1860s, he worked in Springfield, Illinois and Washington DC,
where he painted portraits of leading citizens including Abraham
Lincoln. After 1885 he lived in New York City and died there in
1915.
He was basically a self-taught artist but did take classes at Madison University in Hamilton, NY.
Source:
Groce and Wallace, The New York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America
Peter Falk, Who Was Who in American Art
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
| The following is from Sue Hutchinson:
Mr.
Conant was an uncle of my grandmother. He gave my grandmother one of
two copies of what has been referred to as the "Smiling Lincoln",
painted two to three weeks prior to Lincoln's debate with Stephen
Douglas. On the back of the painting was a letter signed by Conant
telling of Mrs. Lincoln's reaction to the portrait.
Years ago I had a
curator remove the letter from the back of the painting so that it
could be framed side by side which I have done. I also have a full page
out of The New York Times dated 1909 that features Alban Conant then in
his 90's and living in New York City. I know that the other copy
resides in Springfield Library.
What I would like to know is, where is
the original portrait of the "Smiling Lincoln"? |
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