Abraham Lincoln c. 20th century

Editor: Here we have Otto Schneider's portrait of Abraham Lincoln. The hatching feels very deliberate, and the likeness is striking! What stands out to you? Curator: I see the labor of the artist, the process of building up Lincoln's image stroke by stroke. Consider the economic context: prints like these made Lincoln accessible, a commodity circulated and consumed. Editor: So it's less about Lincoln himself and more about how his image was produced and distributed? Curator: Exactly. The materiality speaks volumes about 19th-century visual culture and the manufacturing of celebrity. What implications do you see in that? Editor: That's a really interesting perspective; it helps to see it less as a portrait and more as a product of its time. Curator: Indeed, and that shift in perspective changes everything.