Lincoln in 1983. And since then shes focused on Abraham Lincoln as her subject, and has made many, many, many paintings of different styles which she will talk about. She has also been very active. Being interviewed by cnn. Her paintings on historical society. Along with some other people you may have heard of. Salvatore dali. He was there as well. Norman, and robert. What so certainly in very, very good company, and so are they. In addition to all of this, has a gallery up there, linking it to art. She is also very active with the fellowship of pennsylvania, where she is on the board. And the Vice President of the fellowship of pennsylvania. Shes also very active in the lincoln form. A lot of us went to it in the last year. I think we had record turnout going to the lincoln form and were going to try to beat that record this year. But the foreman of ember. Wendy is involved in all of those. Tonight shes going to talk about her time, just want to talk about lincoln art. Maybe a little more than that. Plus at the and i think were going to talk about hunger fellowship and 100 nights of taps which is a program that she runs in pennsylvania. So please welcome wendy ellen. [applause] before i began id like to thank david. I made his life miserable with this technology. Sorry. Its a entire multi media presentation with video and everything, im surprised hes still talking to me. David, thank. You thanks don for your patience as well. Its an honor to be here tonight. Eight extreme honor. Thanks for welcoming me to your event. Its going to be multi media. I hope you enjoy it. Several years ago, the renowned lincoln scholar contributed essay to the book our new perspectives on lincoln and his world. And yet i found this extraordinary little nugget concerning a particular photo session he sat for for Alexander Gardener studio here in washington, and of ember eight, 1863. It reads, gardener however has traditionally received credit for these masterpieces, and those were the five pieces you just saw. If you have recognized, much less understood, posing for the portraits there. Sarah fischer received none of the credit that she deserves. Harold also wrote in a Magazine Article from 1989 in civil wars illustrator, the masterpieces that harold is talking about included whats most people now agree is the most iconic photo of Abraham Lincoln ever taken. The famous photo that we know called the gettysburg photo portrait. So called because it was taken just 11 days before he left to dedicate the new National Cemetery. When i read this, my heart nearly jumped out of my body because i thought another woman. Another artist that close to lincoln want ink and working to capture that iconic face. I guess you could say that i had been serving for another womans voice. Would i wouldnt have given to be a fly in the wall in that studio that day. But let me be clear. Im not out to diminish Alexander Gardeners genius in any way. But i feel strongly that i must throw a little spotlight on this almost forgotten bit of history. But not quite thanks to harold, how this obscure woman artist was responsible for one of the greatest, iconic photos not just of lincoln, but of the history of photography. So who was sara fischer . We know that fisher was a sculptor born in delaware and 1815 and then she became part of the elite art and social circles in washington d. C. , of course then known as washington city. In 1945 she married a portrait artist and they left the states to go to rome. Which in the mid 1800s was considered the art capital of the world. Harris didnt inherit that title until later. Another reason for going to roam was that women had far more artistic freedom they had their than they did in the states. In rome, sarah steadied renaissance art and ancient art, and got to know other artists that were working there and studying. Sara just went back to the space sometime in the late 18 fifties and settled in boston. When the war began she volunteered as a nurse, and she and her husband moved to washington. By some accounts in 1862 she was put in charge of cleaning up the u. S. Capital building. This is kind of fuzzy, sketchy, but there are thought that this is where she was. That was turned into a union hospital, along with some other government buildings in town. Apparently when Congress Went on recess the soldiers went into the building and complete trash that. Especially the offices of the former southern congressman. They are knitted in the hallway. Spit tobacco everywhere and damaged and scaffolding by some of the ruffners set up on the capitol dome, which at the time were still under construction. Sarah started looking around the building, among other things she found meat, precious me that had been found rotting. Some scholars think this is probably where sara met, and perhaps became friends with president lincoln, who was a regular visitor to the d. C. Hospitals. Well she gave a lot of time to war effort, she was still a working artist. At some point she tried to persuade the president to sit for her so she could create a bust from life. But lincoln was too busy. He didnt have time to sit for the sculpture. He also felt that she wanted to do a very classical portrait. And he felt that it just wasnt a good idea to have a woman sculpt artist watching him not having clothing on top. So that wasnt a proper way to interact . He agreed to have a series of purchased taken of him at Alexander Garden studio. On november 8th, 1863, john hey, lincolns private secretary escorted mrs. Haines to garner studio. President lincoln and john soon arrived after them. Theres two conflicting stories. Notebooks an 1895 describes being there that day. He gets it wrong though. He gets the date wrong. A lot of people including myself, i dont believe he was there, he was recollecting much later than the time. He says that lincoln was sitting there. If you see that photograph of lincoln sitting its like a envelope. He says thats and lincoln was going to read. It at that point, he was still working on the speech. So i dont think that notebooks was there. And theres nothing in nickolays diary to suggest that he was there. Although he does, looks to say he was there. Anyway, lincoln and john, john and nickolay arrive after. Them five autographs of lincoln were taken during the summer sitting. Two of the photographs were paid for by misses , and by paid for i believe she retains copyright to those two matches. A little different in those days. She also obtained the copyright to both. It gettysburg is hers and it is often discussed in our histories as being the first great modern photograph. And yes, it is true. But i believe, as to others, that the photo was taken under strict direction of misses ames for getting exact facial measurements. She did not have the right measurements. You know lincolns face. She wanted exact measurements of that face. So she asked gardener to shoot this very close photograph. I was reading today about how gardner probably did not realize how great the photograph that he has had was until someone had a tight crop of that photograph. Originally, the photograph is deep down his chest for mrs. Ames to get the chest dimensions as well. With the aid of these two photographs, Sarah Fischer ames produced small have sized scale busts that were currently modeled and intended for purchase by middle class collectors. Abraham lincoln was also very intrigued by that. He thought for election time, if people had his sculpture in their houses, it might help his campaigning. This is wet she produced. They were produced in europe and sold for between five and ten dollars apiece. I believe actually harold just sold his, he had one in his collection that he just recently sold. I wouldve loved to have seen it. I did not get a chance to see it. They were a hit. Ames gained substantial mentor notoriety and gain more commissions. Now my artist pursuit begins. I am an artist and i paint the face of Abraham Lincoln. The winters of 1978 and 1979 connecticut were two of the worst winters i can remember. I dont know if anyone else remembers. I had no money and my car was pretty broken down. But with a little cash, and hopes of a new beginning, i drove out to california. My wonderful older sister, police here today, took me in while i looked for a job. It took about a month and i landed an opportunity with a publisher in their design department. I found a little studio apartment in mountain view, california that right now is about a quarter mile from google. I did not have any experience in design or publishing, but they gave me a chance. And i was working with some incredibly interesting and talented artists there. They opened my eyes to the art world. I had never had an art class, but i was really intrigued by everything they were doing. There was also an incredibly vibrant arts scene going on in San Francisco at the time. I was motivated, so i went out and bought some canvases, some oil paint and i created some really, really bad art. My paintings were awful. I had never painted or had in our class and i really was not did not know what i was doing at all. Then in 1982, i attended the first Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College with the renowned lincoln scholar and historian. There were about 20 of us and we had a blast. It was really fun. Going to the institute rekindled my love for lincoln, as well as awakening me to the fundamental issue that i was having with modern and post modern art. That was that it lacked representation of history. I returned to the bay area and i painted my first lincoln. But an artist must innovate. A renowned abstract expressionist once wrote, if 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 paint his own pictures. What is so cool about her, which is finally getting recognition for her fantastic work, but she was friends with john kennedy and would actually paint, this was during the bay of pigs, and she painted him live during this crisis. He just loved having his working with her, getting his portrait. They just had the show about a year ago in washington, i dont know if anybody saw that, but it was an incredible show. They had this piece and it was incredible. I love elaine de kooning, i think shes just marvelous. In 2009, i had the chance to go to the venice in italy, which curates contemporary works of western out from all around the world. I love modern art and i love the crazy kooky, but again wet bothers me about modern art, post modern art, is it really just lacks history. It seemed to me that if contemporary artists had it seem to me as if contemporary artists had intentionally turned its back on history. I wondered how they could they ignore the most important attribute that differentiates us from all other living species on this earth, our great and grant sense of history. At the same time, i started to closely study other painters work. I knew i had a lot of catching up to do with my learning curve. There are a handful of artists that really inspired my work, inspired me to paint. The first one was wayne depot. He was out in San Francisco, im sure youre familiar with his work. His painting applications and use of color are staggeringly beautiful. That is one of my lincolns mimicking his style. I go back and apply to what i want to do. Another one was another west coast painter, nathan oliver, who just recently passed away two years ago. His human figures, they feel transparent to me and beautiful. This is work that ive done based on his style. Then there is alan mcgee, who lives in maine, works in maine. I got a chance to work with allen when i was in publishing. Hes an excellent illustrator, but he also does these painting of rocks. I dont know if you are familiar with his work. They are gigantic canvases about half that wall divided into. All he does is these paintings of rocks. All the paintings are the same. When i saw he had a show at the San Jose Museum of art, when i saw his show i was like, wow. You can stick to one subject and do it over and over again. I got a lot of strength there. I loved that concept. So you can see just the repetition of the same subject for me was very inspiring. Then of course there is andy warhol. I love andy warhol. Hes from pittsburgh and so am i. I love his wanting to work with people in art. He loved to work with other painters. I left his sense of pop style and i incorporate that as well and i incorporated that as well. My favorite painter of course is van gogh. I dont know if you noticed, theres a new van gogh that was just, not discovered, but after five years they decided it was his work. It was when he was in the asylum. Its in amsterdam. Its just a new story that broke today. A fascinating story. A lincoln based on van gogh. Then i am completely mesmerized with the female abstract is expressionist that are now finally coming into their own. Lots of big shows. When i first started studying michael wests work, they only had about nine of her paintings. Now you can find them all over the place. Her name was kareen west, but she changed her name because she was painting with the boys in the forties. She wanted to participate and felt she would have a better chance if she had a masculine name. Her works are amazing. People dont really know much about her, but she was real innovator. Her work is amazing. Thats my lincoln. Now, i wonder how many people here know janet sable. Probably nobody, right . He is from ukraine. She came here to the states in the forties. She was a painter, she was a housewife, she was a mom, she had five children, i think five boys, and she started painting with the kids. Actually, her son had paint a paint set and she started painting with his paint set. What she does is she, there is janet, she starts flattering paint. If you look at the date on that painting, the date on that painting is 1945. Well, Peggy Guggenheim discovers her. Actually, her son gets Peggy Guggenheim to her studio at her house. She paints in her living room. She then offers janet a show, and janet english isnt that good, but Peggy Guggenheim, who has a gallery, is mesmerized by her work. So she has a show in new york city. You will never believe who comes to her show but jackson pollack. This is one of my lincolns based on her style of drip painting. Heres the to painting side by side. Janet sobels painting in 1945. Jackson pollacks First Official drip painting is 1947. He never gives her any credit. She becomes ill and actually moves away to become to retirement, but she does these beautiful. If you look her up, she does beautiful splatter paintings. He never really mentions her or gives her any sort of credit as an influence. I dont want to take anything away, again, from jackson pollack. I dont think he invented the splatter painting, i think janet sobel invented the splatter painting, but he certainly borrowed it and applied it beautifully. He also was the supreme model of young masculine strength that, in the sixties, was helping make the country transition between world war ii and the sixties. He was exciting and people loved him. He was a real character. That is when he became almost even as important as his paintings. But its interesting. Aad san diego museus this little janet sobel painting on display now, and they claim that is the first splatter painting, they are very adamant about it and are very excited to have it. Its a little thing, its about this big, but they claim its the beginning of abstract expressionism. They are very proud of that. Of course, getting back to sara fisher ames and one of the most iconic voters photos ever taken. The artist must soul search, and i do all the time. One of my most favorite authors is doctor richard cells are. He was a surgeon in new haven. He practiced at yale. Hes a marvelous writer, he writes wonderful essays. In a series of essays he has, its called the exact location of the sole. We concludes that the human soul, and i love this, the human soul resides in its wounds. He said, whenever he performed surgery on somebody and watched them heal, he knew that where he helped that patient overcome their wounds is where the human soul is. That persistent thirst for life. He said the strength and character of the sole are shaped by the wounds it works to overcome. I love that. So i applied that to searching for americas soul. According to dr. Allen gals oh, in his book faith, lightning, a new history of the reconstruction, 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 i believe in free labor and a growing trust in human bondage. In the south, they produced a dedication to states rights and a defense of posture on slavery. According to the 1860 census, there were close to 4 million enslaved humans here in america. The final compromise was impossible and the civil war began. According to the Civil War Trust recently, union and Confederate Forces collided in gettysburg on july one, two and three. 165,620 soldiers engaged in the battle throughout the small pennsylvania town, and huge numbers of capillary bursts, including 10,000 slaves, were forced to serve in the army. They reported a combined 78,000 dead and 10,790 captured or missing over 72 hours of fighting. Of the wounded, approximately 14 died gruesome deaths and impromptu hospitals over the next few months. And when the battle ended, and the surviving soldiers retreated, the battles field around gettysburg were in other desolation. Was a volunteer nurse who arrived in gettysburg, shes from upstate new york. According to the historian, she found wounded man a lying in the streets, and she feared walking on the mess she passed by. They lay like trees uprooted in a tornado, and their lives slowly upped away. She was directed to nurse those in the field. She was very young. Very tough there are some great accounts of arguments with doctors, and so. On she held her ground. She was very tough. She was in her late twenties. I visited the battleground on several occasions. And for the first time, soon after the conflict, and evidence of the horrid carnage lay on hand fearful sites, i grew familiar with death. That is the picture of her. I had grown familiar with jonathan every shape, yet so close a touched me, honk a sleeve of army blue, black and, cuff i could not help feel a moment of shutter. Cold bodies battered and decaying condition. Th