File:Portrait of Abraham Lincoln (by George Peter Alexander Healy, 1860).jpg

1926 Long-term loan, Lincoln School, Washington, 1926-1943. 1956 Mr. President: A Pictorial Parade of Presidents from Washington to Eisenhower, 1789-1956, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1956, no. 33. 1957 The American Vision: Paintings of Three Centuries: A Loan Exhibition Sponsored by Time, the Weekly Newsmagazine, for the Benefit of the American Federation of Arts, Wildenstein Gallery, New York, October-Novembber 1957, no. 10. 1957 The Bryan-Corcoran Collection of American Portraits, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, March-September 1957, no catalogue. 1959 American National Exhibition, Sokol'niki Park, Moscow, July-September 1959, unnumbered catalogue. 1959 Loan Exhibition. Masterpieces of the Corcoran Gallery of Art: A Benefit Exhibition in Honor of the Gallery's Centenary, Wildenstein, New York, January-March 1959, unnumbered catalogue, repro. 1959 The American Muse: Parallel Trends in Literature and Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 4 April - 17 May 1959, no. 125. 1960 War, Peace, and Union, San Diego Museum of Art, 1960, no. 14. 1966 Past and Present: 250 Years of American Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, unpublished checklist. 1968 The Artist Sees Historic Illinois, Illinois State Museum, Springfield, 1967-1968, unnumbered catalogue. 1972 The Great Game of Politics, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1972, unpublished checklist. 1974 Loan to display at The White House, Washington, 1974. 1976 Corcoran [The American Genius]. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1976, unnumbered catalogue. 2004 The Body Politic: Portraits of American Presidents, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2004-2005, unpublished checklist. 2008 The American Evolution: A History through Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2008, unpublished checklist. 2009 Bold, Cautious, True: Walt Whitman and American Art of the Civil War Era, The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis; Katonah Museum of Art, New York, 2009-2010, no. 11.

Signature and date center right:

A self-trained artist born in Boston, George Peter Alexander Healy enjoyed moderate success as a painter in New England before traveling to Europe to study and seek commissions. He lived in both Paris and London, developing a style of portraiture that emphasized fine draftsmanship, naturalistic coloring, and a smooth, finished surface—all visible in this representation of Abraham Lincoln. The pinnacle of Healy's success abroad was a commission from French king Louis-Philippe to return to paint likenesses of distinguished American statesmen, an endeavor cut short by the French Revolution of 1848 and subsequent abdication of the king. In 1860, Chicago businessman and philanthropist Thomas B. Bryan purchased the works Healy had completed for the series, and commissioned the portrait of then president-elect Lincoln, an Illinois native son. Bryan planned to exhibit these works together in what he described as his "National Gallery," to be housed in the eponymous Bryan Music Hall in Chicago.

Although it lacks the iconic features that came to characterize Lincoln's visage in later portraits—his full beard, gaunt face, and pensive solemnity—this portrait is significant as the last painted depiction of Lincoln without a beard. The lines on Lincoln's forehead and jowls and the dark circles beneath his eyes hint at the demands of the election campaign and his impending service as president. Yet, as art collector and museum founder Duncan Phillips noted, "This is a happy Lincoln with a glint of the famous humor which was to mitigate his sorrows and his cares. . . . It is a disarmingly personal impression of the eyes of true greatness at a moment when they were lighted with the surprise, the honor, and the vision of supreme opportunity."

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