I’m looking for a painting that I KNOW I’ve seen, many times, but all manner of google image searches have failed to bring it up. It’s a painting of Lincoln’s “not dead yet” body being carried by the crowd from Ford’s Theatre to the Peterson House (where he died); it’s a crowd scene, Lincoln’s face (eyes closed) is clearly visible, and I want to say that the original is in Ford’s Theater but I could be wrong and couldn’t find it on their website. I’m not sure who the artist is or when it was painted, though I know it’s older than I am (42) as I remember it being in one of my parents’ books that I used to look at when I was a kid.
Does anybody know the painting I’m talking about- its artist or name? I’ve googled all manner of combinations of the keywords (*Lincoln assassination Peterson Ford’s shot carried painting crowd “not dead yet” “this stain will never come out!” *etc.) but I haven’t found it. (I’ve found every other painting ever done of the assassination through final interment, just not that one.)
I suppose you’ve already ruled out this one, which depicts Lincoln’s body already in the tiny bedroom where he died? I remember seeing the linked image when I visited DC, but for the life of me I don’t remember where. (Likely places that I visited were Ford’s Theater, Peterson’s, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian, so it could’ve been anywhere…) But it’s not really the same as the painting you describe, alas.
Ah, yes. The “rubber room” engravings. There were many different versions, all showing a crowd of people at Lincoln’s bedside.
In reality, the room was 9 1/2 x 17 – much too small to hold the visitors portrayed as being there. Hence, the “rubber room” – it keeps expanding to fit the crowd.
Thanks for all answers. The one I’m looking for wasn’t of the death room, but actually is on Tenth Street between the theater and the boarding house.
Some trivia about the rubber room drawings: Mary Todd Lincoln was not allowed to be at her husband’s bedside because she was in hysterics. While this was admittedly not unusual for her, I think most people would agree that having your husband’s gray matter on your dress would make many people hysterical. She very much resented that she had to wait in the parlor while the Cabinet members and then artists were allowed inside. (She was allowed into the room for brief periods of time and when he breathed his last.)
I have some good news, and I have some bad news. I found the painting in Lincoln: An Illustrated Biography by Philip B. Kunhardt et al. (Knopf 1997) on p. 357. The caption says, “Lincoln was carried from Ford’s Theatre onto Tenth Street. The artist who painted this scene had been sketching on his balcony across the street when the dramatic sight presented itself.” There are no pictures credits on that page, nor is the artist identified by name.
The picture credits for the whole book on p. 414 simply say, “Edward Owen, Ford’s Theatre, NHS” as to p. 357. I presume he’s a Park Service photographer and not the painter, as I can find nothing else about Owen on Wiki or Google.
Heh, you’re welcome! Now that I see this I remember it too – I do think it’s in Ford’s Theatre, or at least it was back when I visited it in '96 or so. But I couldn’t have found it without Elendil’s Heir’s quoting from that book, which gave me a tip on how to search.
I looked for Lincoln, artist, balcony and “tenth street” and came up with a few books describing the event in detail, and found one that mentioned Carl Bersch’s name as the artist in question. He was a useful eyewitness, not surprisingly, since he had a keen eye for detail and was able to describe the sight vividly.
Anyway, I then searched on Bersch himself, together with Lincoln, and that single Chicago History website – which is the only hit on Google that shows the painting – popped up. Voila!
I used to do fundraising research for a living, so hunting around for nuggets of gold using vague clues is a bit of a specialty. But you’re the real star since you actually found it in a book, which is hardcore. And for thinking to add the description of the painting.
I have a lot of Civil War books. I went through the illustrated ones, especially those focusing on Lincoln, and flipped towards the backs of each to find one with that painting. It was frustrating not to have a better citation for the painting and author, though. Y’know, now that I’ve seen the painting again, I have the vaguest memory of seeing it when I visited Ford’s Theatre eight years ago.
Well, this highly decorated research professional humbly doffs his stovepipe hat to you both. I was beginning to think I’d imagined it. (Odd that there aren’t more pics of it; type in ‘dogs playing poker’ or whatever and you’ll have all kinds of relevant things come up.)
Hey, just bumping this for a funny coincidence. I was just watching the most recent American Experience, The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and guess what appeared onscreen during the discussion of moving Lincoln’s body from Ford’s Theater to the Peterson House?
Shows up at 43:44 (part six – “Chaos” – if you want to go right to it).
Update: I emailed Ford’s Theatre asking if they sell any prints or postcards of this as I needed a better resolution image for the presentation I’m doing. They do not, but a very sweet (no sarcasm intended) employee there named Gloria Swift took a digital photo and sent it to me. I’m at work where I don’t have any editing program better than MS Publisher, but I "purtied’ it up and cropped it a tad, and when home I’ll make it a bit better, and I’ve mounted it on my public site on Flickr with the tags Carl Bersch Borne by Loving Hands Ford’s Theatre Lincoln Assassination so that the next time somebody needs a copy they’ll hopefully find it. (I’m always amazed when an employee of any kind, but particularly a gov’t employee, goes above and beyond and does something nice like that.)
The painting is nicely displayed on pp. 52-53 of the March 2015 Smithsonian magazine (much of which focuses on the Lincoln assassination), in the article “Afterlife” by noted Lincoln historian Harold Holzer, about the aftermath of Booth’s foul deed. It discusses Bersch a little.
That’s one helluva bump! But how nice to remember this fun thread, and especially to see more information about that image, all these years later. Thanks, Elendil’s Heir!
(Odd that there aren’t more pics of it; type in ‘dogs playing poker’ or whatever and you’ll have all kinds of relevant things come up.)