973.7L63 E3T85n Turner, Justin G. The Carvalho Portrait of Lincoln LINCOLN ROOM UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://archive.org/details/noteonsolomonnueOOturn THE CARVALHO P ORTRAIT OF LINCOLN A Lincoln SESQUICENTENNIAL Commemoration A NOTE ON SOLOMON NUNES CARVALHO AND HIS PORTRAIT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN BYJUSTIN G.TURNER 4 LOS ANGELES X\ Id? THE PLANTIN PRESS ™ I Q 6 The Carvalho portrait of Lincoln was presented to Brandeis University by Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Turner Mr. and Mrs. John J. Mack Mr. and Mrs. Justin G. Turner 0^ •5 &3T*5vl FOREWORD A university which prides itself upon the close relationship between its faculty and students finds dif- ficulty in accepting traditional classroom architecture. The blackboard, the rows of stiff chairs, the barren walls, all combine to make the learning process at times rather tedious and uninspiring. Brandeis University has developed an idea which may be the answer to this problem: classrooms literally saturated with memorabilia associated with the subject under study. The new Schiffman Humanities Center and the Olin-Sang American Civilization Center, both currently under construction, will be patterned after this plan. Lounges will be given names such as" The FOREWORD Walt Whitman Room," "The Shakespeare Room" and "The Spinoza Room ." Among the halls will he found" The Four Freedoms Hall" "The Washington Hall "and" The Lincoln Hall." The Carvalho portrait of Lincoln reproduced here illustrates the quality of the decor to be applied to the finished areas. The Carvalho Lincoln, treasured gift of Messrs. andMesdames Maurice Turner, John]. Mack, and Justin G. Turner of Los Angeles, will grace one of the walls of the Lincoln Room and will be a central attraction for student and visitor alike. The Lincoln Room, with this magnificent painting as the focus, will become a center for teaching the Lincoln period in American history. The subject matter of the lectures and studies can no longer be viewed as fossilized ma- terial; it will live and breathe and become a vibrant part of the student's approach to his studies. FOREWORD This novel approach is bound to have a salutary effect upon the University as a whole. It is in a sense the introduction of the laboratory approach to the social sciences and the humanities, and it will be followed with deep interest by educators everywhere. Abraham L. Sachar, President BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY Waltham, Massachusetts 12 February i960 THE CARVALHO PORTRAIT OF LINCOLN My interest in Solomon Nufies Carvalho stems from two sources. First, he was the only Jewish personage of prominence who visited the West Coast in the early 1850s. Second, his por- trait of Abraham Lincoln dated 1865, is the only known portrait of Lincoln by a contemporary Jewish artist. The portrait, large and handsome, suggests a brooding calm, the atmosphere not worldly but idealistic and mysterious, in which the artist has included a number of interesting iconographical details. The Capitol building appears in the back- ground as a symbol of union. Diogenes having c 1 3 THE CARVALHO at last found an honest man, stands in a posture of amazement, his lantern having fallen to the ground. Lincoln is holding a scroll on which is visible the words, "with malice toward none, with charity for all," from the concluding paragraph of the Second Inaugural address. On the left is a statue of an unidentified personage wearing a toga. As far as I have been able to ascertain, this is only one of four recorded portraits of Lincoln which have allegorical attributes. Another allegorical painting by D. G. Blythe dated 1862 is in the M. & M. Karolik Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. This por- trays Lincoln striking at a dragon, which is in the act of tearing down with its tail a building sym- bolizing the Union.The dragon, a beast, appears to be part hog, perhaps because Blythe felt that selfish greed was an important factor in the Rebellion. Lincoln is being restrained by a Copperhead who c 2 3 PORTRAIT OF LINCOLN is tightening a chain around his right leg, together with the Liberty Bell, to a post labeled "Constitu- tional Democracy.' ' In the background is Tam- many Hall itself, in the shadowy interior of which appears the outline of a donkey's head showing it to be a democratic stronghold. The burning city and empty gallows in the distance are intended to emphasize the violence of the conflict and the ne- cessity for decisive action. Another painting, by George Frederick Wright, dated 1864, shows President Lincoln alone in a great storm holding together thirteen strands of a ship's hauser, symbolic of the original states and the Ship of State. This painting was sold by the Estate of Percy A. Rockefeller in 1937. Its present whereabouts are unknown. A steel engraving by Henry Bryan Hall of New York bears the following legend: "Diogenes, his lantern needs no more — an honest man is found ! c 3 3 THE CARVALHO The search is o'er." At the bottom right is a bust portrait of Lincoln in an oval frame. At the left, Diogenes in repose, draped in a toga, sits with his lantern in his left hand, resting upon the frame.The Capitol building is in the background at the top left. The frame rests against the plinth of the base of a column upon which Diogenes is seated. The original steel engraving is in the collection of the Lincoln Museum, Washington, D. C. The where- abouts of the original portrait from which the en- graving was made is unknown. Solomon nunes carvalho was born in Charleston, South Carolina, April 27, 1815, and died in New York City on May 21, 1897. At the age of twenty he sailed for the West Indies as a supercargo on a trading vessel which was wrecked during a storm. He swam to shore and with the aid of a rope he successfully guided other passen- [ 4 ] PORTRAIT OF LINCOLN gers and members of the crew to safety. This ep- isode is said to have taken place in an isolated area where Carvalho passed the time before returning home, drawing charcoal portraits and sketches of his fellow passengers and the local inhabitants. One of Carvalho's earliest paintings was that of the interior of the Beth Elohim Synagogue at Charleston, which was destroyed by fire in 1838. It was painted from memory and offered to the congregation' 'for such compensation as the Board may deem proper to allow." The sum of fifty dol- lars was sent to Carvalho by the Congregation. Carvalho was listed at various periods in the City directories of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Charleston as a professional daguerreotypist and portraitist. A newspaper account in the Charleston Courier of February 3,1851, informed the public of "his familiarity as a professional artist with the philosophical principles of light and shadow, en- c 5 3 THE CARVALHO abling him to combine the study and practice of both to great advantage. An exquisite delicate and lifelike sketch in oil, which he has just completed, is attracting the admiration of his visitors, and con- sidered by many good judges among them, to be a highly successful effort in the delineation of a difficult subject, attitude and expression. Mr. Car- valho's rooms are open at all hours of the morning and afternoon for the inspection of ladies and gen- tlemen desirous of seeing his specimens and im- provements in the art." In 1852 he won a silver medal offered by the South Carolina Institute with his painting, * 'The Intercession of Moses for Israel." Just when Carvalho moved to Baltimore is un- known but according to his granddaughter, Clare Carvalho, he was living there when the Fremont incident took place with which he opens his In- cidents of Travel and Adventure in the Far West. First published in 1 8 5 7, this volume is the only extended C 6 3 PORTRAIT OF LINCOLN narrative of mid-nineteenth century far Western American adventure written by a Jew. Carvalho begins his narrative as follows: On the 22 nd August, 1853, after a short interview with Col. J. C. Fremont, I accepted his invitation to accom- pany him as artist ofanExploringExpedition across the Rocky Mountains. A half hour previously, if anybody had suggested to me the probability of my undertaking an overland journey to California, even over the emi- grant route, I should have replied there were no induce- ments sufficiently powerful to have tempted me. Yet, in this instance, I impulsively, without even a consultation with my family, passed my word to join an exploring party, under command of Col. Fremont, over a hitherto untrodden country, in an elevated region, with the full expectation of being exposed to all the inclemencies of an arctic winter. I know of no other man to whom I would have trusted my life, under similar circumstances. c ? 3 THE CARVALHO This volume is the only available source of detailed historical data regarding Colonel John Charles Fremont's fifth and final expedition into the Far West, of which Carvalho was the first of- ficial photographer to be appointed to the staff of an exploring party anywhere in the world. This expedition was directly related to the search for a most desirable route for a railroad line to the Pacific. Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War, having exhibited his preference for the southernmost route to California as the path for a projected rail- way, and having sent out other expeditions to dem- onstrate the practicability of his plan, Fremont, privately financed by his father-in-law, Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri and his own funds, determined to prove that a central route was also practicable and more desirable. Fremont had described his previous explorations but having been nominated in 1856 as the first Republican C 8 3 PORTRAIT OF LINCOLN candidate for president, he undoubtedly was too occupied with his campaign to describe his last expedition. Carvalho's volume has been often quoted by researchers and historians. His stature as an artist and author has increased steadily through the years. As far as we know, Carvalho is recorded as being the second Jew to cross the Rocky Moun- tains into California, being preceded by Emanuel Lazarus, who accompanied thejedediah S. Smith party of seventeen persons who entered Califor- nia in November, 1826. The last chapter of Carvalho's volume deals with his experiences in Southern CaHfornia.While in Los Angeles, he painted portraits of Ex-Gov- ernor Pio Pico and several other pioneers. Un- fortunately, we have been unable to ascertain the whereabouts of these western portraits. Carvalho was instrumental in organizing the Hebrew Be- nevolent Society of Los Angeles in i854.This was c 9 3 THE CARVALHO the first Jewish institution organized in Los An- geles and was the forerunner of the present Jewish Community Council in Los Angeles. The con- cluding paragraph of Carvalho's volume reads: To the brothers Samuel and Joseph Labatt, merchants of Los Angeles: lam indebted for many acts of kindness; men who anticipate the necessities of their fellow man, and spontaneously offer money advances to a perfect stranger, I have not often met with, but when found, I make a note of it. The Labatts were among the organizers of this Society, and Samuel K. Labatt served as its first president. At the first meeting of the society on July 2, 1854, the following motion was presented and passed: Resolved, unanimously, that the thanks of this meeting be tendered to Mr. S. N. Carvalhofor his valuable ser- vices in organizing this Society and that he be elected an C 10 3 PORTRAIT OF LINCOLN honorary member; also that these proceedings he pub- lished in the Occident. Although the Incidents were reprinted several times the volumes are not easily obtainable. One hundred years after the events described, the Jew- ish Publication Society re-published this volume in 1954 in connection with the Tercentenary An- niversary of Jewish settlement in North America. For a detailed sketch of Carvalho and his Incidents, one must read Dr. Bertram W. Korn's splendid introduction to the 1954 edition for which he as- sembled an inventory of all of Carvalho's known paintings, most of which are reproduced. t 11 3 /iSHAHAj 4* ~* r- *^ *~ f 1 IrT* l-rr* ! J959 350 COPIES PRINTED AT THE PLANTIN PRESS, LOS ANGELES UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 973.7L63E3T85N C001 A NOTE ON SOLOMON NUNES CARVALHO AND HIS 3 0112 031813162