Hon. Abraham Lincoln, Born in Kentucky, February 12, 1809
1860
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1860
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Hon. Abraham Lincoln, Born in Kentucky, February 12, 1809 is a 1860 by Winslow Homer, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This is a black-and-white portrait of a man in a long, formal coat and bow tie. He stands with one hand resting on a table, which holds a book and a small object that looks like a pipe. Behind him, a curtain frames a dark, shadowy scene with a faint landscape—maybe hills or trees—visible through a window. The man’s serious expression and the careful folds of his clothing suggest this was meant to look official. The artist used strong contrasts between light and dark to shape his face and the background. Next, check out chiaroscuro to see how this lighting trick works.
