"A Deep and Subtle Expression: Lincoln in Sculpture – Works from National Trust Collections"
Exhibition at President Lincoln’s Cottage explores Abraham Lincoln's intellectual and emotional complexity
Posted July 22, 2008 | Contact pr@nthp.org or 202-588-6141
Washington, DC (July 22, 2008)--"A Deep and Subtle Expression: Lincoln in Sculpture – Works from National Trust Collections," explores how artists over the past 150 years have sought to convey Abraham Lincoln's intellectual and emotional complexity through depictions of the 16th president's distinct physical appearance. This rich and intimately scaled exhibition, on view at President Lincoln's Cottage, a National Trust Historic Site in Washington, DC, through December 19, 2008, features sixteen works drawn from the unique holdings at several of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's 29 National Trust Historic Sites.
The exhibition includes three studies for Daniel Chester French's statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, one of the most profound and moving depictions of the former president. These, along with two rarely exhibited versions of French's "Standing Lincoln," models for the Nebraska state capital, are on loan from the sculptor's home, Chesterwood. Among the other works included, a "Life Mask" from the collection of the Woodrow Wilson House, and a small glass bust created for the 1876 centennial exhibition, hailed at the time by the New York Times as an "excellent likeness," on loan from Villa Finale. A plaster model by StudioEIS for a new bronze sculpture of Lincoln standing beside his horse, to be unveiled at President Lincoln's Cottage in November, is also on view.
President Lincoln's Cottage, which served as Lincoln's family residence for a quarter of his presidency, is located on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in northwest Washington, DC. The site opened to the public in February 2008, following a seven-year, $15 million dollar restoration. The Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center, a LEED-Gold certified facility located in a restored 1905 building adjacent to the Cottage, presents permanent and temporary exhibitions about Lincoln's presidency, family, and Washington, DC during the Civil War.
The exhibition is located in the Special Exhibit Gallery in the Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center at President Lincoln's Cottage, Eagle Gate at the intersection of Rock Creek Church Road NW and Upshur Street NW. Hours of operation: Summer, 9:30am-5:30pm Monday-Saturday, 11:30am-5:30pm Sunday; Winter (after November 1), 9:30am-4:30pm Monday-Saturday, 11:30am-4:30pm Sunday.
Visitor information, tickets and directions are available online at www.lincolncottage.org.
