She first did her First Painting of Abraham Lincoln in 1983. Since then, she has focused on Abraham Lincoln as her subject and has made many paintings of different styles which people talk about. Been active, being , had hered by cnn paintings in the historical society, along with some other people you might have heard of. Salvador dali, he was there too. Norman rockwell, robert rauschenberg. Certainly in very good company. Sheddition to all of this, lives in gettysburg and has a gallery up there. She is also very active with the fellowship of pennsylvania. At the end well talk about the lincoln fellowship and her hundred nights of taps, a program that she runs in pennsylvania. Please welcome wendy allen. [applause] before i begin, i would like to thank david. I made his life miserable today with this technology. All weekend all weekend, sorry. It is an entire multimedia presentation with video and everything. Im surprised she is still talking to be. Thank you. Take you, john as well. It is an honor to be here tonight. An extreme honor. They could for welcoming me to your event tonight. Multimedia. To be i hope you enjoy. Cover ago, the rent only scholar can be did a book i found this extraordinary little nugget concerning a particular photo session lincoln had for Alexander Gardner studio here in washington on november 8, 18 63. It reads gardener, however, has traditionally received credit for these masterpieces, and those were the five pieces you just saw. Since much do not understand the role of sending lincoln to the gallery and hosed like sarah ames received another credit she deserved. Magazineso wrote in a article that appeared in 1989 in the april issue of civil war times illustrated titled misses ames and mr. Lincoln. The masterpieces harold is talking about included what most people now agree is the most iconic photo of Abraham Lincoln ever taken. We now call the gettysburg portrait. So called because it was taken just 10, 11 days before he left to dedicate the new National Cemetery. When i read this, my heart nearly jumped out of my body. Another woman, another artist that close to lincoln wanting and working to capture that iconic face, i guess you could say i had been starving for another womans voice. What i would not have given to have been a fly on the wall in the studio that day. Clear, i am not out to diminish Alexander Gardners genius in any way, but i feel strongly i must throw a little spotlight on this almost forgotten bit of history. Harold, andanks to how this obscure woman artist was responsible for the greatest most iconic photos, not just of lincoln, but history and photography. Who was Sarah Fisher Ames . We know that ames was a sculptor born in delaware in 1817. She became part of an elite art and Social Circle of boston, rome, washington, dc, then known as washington city. She married a portrait artist and they left the states to go to rome. Mid1800s, it was considered the arch capital of the world. Another reason for going to rome was that women had far more artistic freedom there than they had in the United States. At rome, sarah studied ancient renaissance art and got to study other american artists there working and studying. States ack to the and they came back to the state sometime in the late 1850s. When the war began, sarah volunteered as a nurse with the sanitary commission. She and her husband moved to washington. Wasome accounts 1962, she put in charge of cleaning up the u. S. Capitol building. This is sketchy, but there are thoughts that this is where she was. It was turned into a Union Hospitalized along with other it was turned into a Union Hospital along with other buildings. Trashed asngs were well as the office of the former southern congressman. They urinated on the walls, spit floor. On the when sarah started mucking out the building among other things, meat that had been left rotting. Some scholars think that this is she becameere friends with president lincoln, a regular visitor to d. C. Hospitals. While she gave a lot of time to the war effort, she was still a working artist. That some point, she had tried to persuade the president to sit with her so that she could create a bust from life. Lincoln was too busy. He did not have time to sit for the sculpture. He also felt that she want to do a classical portrait and he felt it wasnt a good idea to have a woman sculpture artist watching him not having clothing on top. That was not a proper way to interact. Ofagreed to have a series portraits taken him of him at the city appeared on november 8, come 1863, lincolns private secretary escorted misses ames to gardner studio. President lincoln den John Nicollet soon arrived after them. There are two conflicting stories. Noah brooks in 1895 describes being there that day. Hegets it wrong, though it gets the date wrong and a lot of people including myself dont believe he was there. He was wreck a letting recollecting much later than the time. He says lincoln was sitting if you see the photo you see what looks like an envelope, he copy oft was everetts the gettysburg address but at that point, everett was still working on the speech. I dont think brooks was there. Nikolaisothing in diary to suggest he was there, although brooks does say he was there. Anyway. John hayes lincoln and john soon arrived after him. Were paid photographs for by misses ames. I believe she retains copyright to those two images. A little different in those days. The copyright to both. The lincoln gettysburg was hers, often discussed in art history as being the first rate modern photograph. I believe, s2 others, the photo was taken under strict direction of misses ames forgetting exact facial measurements. She didnt have the right measurement spirit you know lincolns face. She wanted exacting measurements of that phase. Asked gardner to shoot this very close photograph. About howing today gardner probably didnt realize how great the photograph was that he had until someone actually had a tight crop of that beautiful photograph. Initially, the photograph is pretty deep down his chest for misses ames to get the chests dimensions as well. With the aid of these two photographs, Sarah Fisher Ames went on to produce half sized smallscale busts that were crudely modeled and intended for purchase by middleclass collectors. Abraham lincoln was intrigued by that. He thought that for election times, people had his sculpture in their houses. It might help his campaigning. This is what she produce. There produced in europe and sold for between five dollars and 10 a piece. Harold just sold his, i would love to have seen it. They were a hit. Substantiald notoriety and she got more commissions. Now my artist pursuit begins spirit i am an artist and i paint the face of Abraham Lincoln. Winters of 1978 and 1979 connecticut for two of i dont know if anybody remembers, the worst winters i can remember. Wasd no money, and my car pretty broken down. I drove out to california. My older sister who was here today took me in, and it took about a month before i landed an opportunity with a publisher. I found a little studio apartment in california that right now is about a quartermile from google. I did not have any experience. In designer publishing, but they gave me a chance. I was working with interesting intelligent artists. They open my eyes to the art world. Had never had an art class i was intrigued by what they were doing. There is a vibrant arts scene going on in San Francisco at the time. I was motivated so i bought some canvases, oil paints command i created some really bad art. My paintings were awful. Had anever painted or art class, and i did not know what i was doing. Attended the first cwi, civil war into student Civil War Institute at gettysburg college. Were 20 of us, we had a blast. Institute rekindled my love for lincoln. Too theas awakening me fundamental issue i was having with modern and postmodern art, that was that it lacked representation of history. I returned to the bay area and painted by first lincoln. An artist must innovate. Abstractd , ifssionist once wrote the artist did not desire to change all art, he would never get past his love for the artist who first inspired him and be able to pages on picture. What is cool about alain duke unique, who is finally getting recognition for her work is that she was friends with john kennedy and would actually this was during the bay of pigs, and she painted him live during this crisis. He loved having his working with her getting his portraits. Show about a a year ago in washington, i dont know if anybody saw that but it was incredible they had this piece and it was incredible. I think she is just marvelous. A chance to go to which currently curates western art from all around the western world. I love modern art and i love the cookie crazy i love it. Modernthers me about art, postmodern art is that it just lacks history. It seemed to me if contemporary turned had intentionally its back on history. Ignoreded how good they the most important attributes that differentiate us from all other living species on this earth. Our grand sense of history. At the same time, i started to closely study other painters work. I had a lot of catching up to do. There are a handful of artists that really inspired my work. Inspires me to paint. A wayne tebow. As he was in San Francisco. Painting applications and use of color are staggeringly beautiful. There is one of my lincolns mimicking his style. I want to see his paintings and see how they work and then apply it to what i want to do. Another westas coast painter, nathan olivera. He just passed away two years ago. Figures feel transparent to me and beautiful. This is work that ive done. Ased on his style and then there is ellen mcgee. He lives in maine. I got a chance to work with alan when i was in publishing. He is an excellent illustrator but he also does these paintings of rocks. I dont know if you are familiar, but they are china gigantic canvases about half that wall, and all he does have these paintings of rocks. Every painting is the same. When i saw he had a show at the san of modern art. I was like, you can six to one subject and do it over and over again. You can see it is the repetition of the same subject to me, very inspiring. And then of course there is any warhol. I love andy warhol, from pittsburgh, so my. So am i. He loved to work with other painters. I left his sense of pop style. My most favorite picture, van gogh. I dont know if you notice there is a new van gogh that was just not discovered, but after five years they decided it is his work. It is in amsterdam. It was a news story that broke today. Fascinating story. And then, i am completely mesmerized with the female abstract expressionist who are now coming into their own. Lots of big shows. When i first started studying michael west, they only had nine of her paintings are now they now you can find them a love the place. Shename was karin west but changed it because she was in new york in the 40s painting with the big boys and she wanted to participate and she felt she would have a better chance of she had a masculine name. Her works are amazing. People dont know that much about her but she was an innovator. Really fun. Her work is amazing. That is my lincoln. Wonder how many people here know janet sobel. Probably nobody, right . She is from ukraine, she came the to the states in 1940s. She was a painter, a housewife, a mom, she had five boys. With theed painting kids. Set, and she paint sorted painting with his paint set. That she started painting with his paint set. She starts splattering paint. Date, 1945. Peggy guggenheim discovers her. She painted her living room. Peggy guggenheim who has a gallery is mesmerized by her work. She has a show in new york city. You will never believe who comes to her show, Jackson Pollock. This is when my lincoln spaced on her. Her style of drip. Here are two painting sidebyside. Painting in 1945, Jackson Pollocks First Official drip painting is 1947. He never gives her any credit. She becomes ill and actually moves away. To retirement. She does bid. Her paintings. He never really mentions her or gives her any type of credit. Anythingant to take away from Jackson Pollock come i dont think he invented the splatter painting come i think janet sobel invented splatter certainlybut he borrowed it and applied it beautifully. Supreme modelhe strengths inuline the 1960s that were helping make the transition between world war ii and the 1960s. He was exciting. People loved him. He was a real character. Ast is when he became almost important as his paintings. Art hasdiego museum of this little janet sobel painting. Theyre claiming that is the first splatter painting and they are very adamant of they are very adamant about it. Its just a little thing but they claim its the first. The beginning of abstract expressionism. And then getting back to Sarah Fisher Ames in front of the most iconic photos ever taken. The artist must solve search and i do all the time. Authorsy most favorite is dr. Richard selzer. He was a surgeon in hammond. New haven. He has what is called the exact location of the soul. He concluded that the human soul resides in its wounds. He said whenever he performs surgery on somebody and then he watches them peel, he knew that where he helped that patient overcome their wound is for the persistent, thirst for life he says the strength and character are shaped by the wounds it works to overcome. I love that. Apply that to searching for soul. Cas sold the Founding Fathers established principles of liberty and democracy that overtime were interpreted differently in the north and south. In the north, these principles fostered labor and mistrust, in the south, they produced a dedication to states rights and inoffensive posture on slavery. Census,g to the 1860 there were close to 4 million enslaved humans here in america. The union and Confederate Forces collided in gettysburg. To 5006 hundred 20 soldiers engaged in the battle. Huge numbers of camp labor burgers including 10,00030,000 slaves were forced to serve the southern rbp the union and confederate armies officially reported a combined 7000 dead. And 10, 790 captured or missing. Wounded, approximately 14 died gruesome deaths in impromptu hospitals over the final few months. When the battle ended and surviving soldiers retreated, the battlefield was complete desolation. A nurse arrived from upstate new york and according to historians , the frowning a buckland found wounded men lying on the streets and feared walking on them as she passed by. She remembered like trees uprooted from a tornado. In theected the nurses field she was very young and very tough. Accounts, some great arguments with doctors and so on p but she was very tough. I visited the battleground on vacations and for the first time soon after the conflict wind the evidence of the horrid carnage layer on every hand, i had grown familiar with death. That is a picture of her. I go familiar with death in every shape, but one place so close he could touch me was a sleeve of army blue. The dead hand protruding from the cuff, i could not but feel a moment of shutter. As the throne by a giant hand. Their awful site and battered and decaying condition. The freshly turned earth on every hand denoted the for many, the likes were thrust above the covering and arms and hands were lifted up as though pleading to be assigned enough earth to keep them from the glare of the day. On november 18 come 18 63, president lincoln arrives in gettysburg to make a few appropriate remarks at the dedication of the newly opened National Cemetery the next day. Im going to make my own case for lincoln. I believe the exact location of americas soul can be found in gettysburg. I believe that america] soul was defined by the wounds of the civil war. Born at the precise moment lincoln concluded his gettysburg address. 19, 1863. R the strength and character of nobledrific battle in the nations sacrifices, may true our sacred charters of freedom, the declaration of constitution,the and forever changed the course of American World history. American history and world history. So, why do i obsessively paint lincoln . Because i am painting the exact location of americas soul. [video clip] and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. Thank you. [applause] wendy before i begin the second part of my talk, does anybody have any questions they would like to ask, or yeah . How many lincoln portraits have you painted . Do you have a favorite . Like your favorite child . Wendy they are like my children. I dont put them up for sale. That sounds strange. Until i really happy with them. It favorite. I didnt have a favorite until a few years ago when i painted a very large canvas, that is now in a building you can see it from the square in gettysburg. The corporation that is there bought the painting. I think that is one of my favorites, because it was very fast, very freeflowing. I love the colors. I knew when to stop. Im very happy with that painting. And how many paintings . Probably close to 400 now. Yeah. In the lot of pictures. How they react, and any stories you might have of their reaction . Wendy they go nuts. I do k through college, and even the young kids, i bring gigantic blowups of my paintings and turn them around, and i have the kids help me. We talk about the gettysburg address. Even nursery school. Its just fun. That is one of my most favorite things is doing school visits. And the High School Kids are really interesting, because they want to know about the business of art, so we get into that, and that is kind of fun, too. You do one subject, lincoln. You look at someone like monet who did one subject, the water lilies, i dont know how many times, but they are all the same style. Yours, you have a multitude of different styles. Wendy thats what i thought would be my direction, being a postmodern artist. Take one subject, i do paint other things but my focus has been lincoln. Take one focus and then different styles. Tackle the styles. I thought that was sort of flipping art on, you know, around. You went from one style to another, like, you do one style