Robert Terry February 12-March 12, 2021
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The Lincoln Paintings, 1995-2013 For almost two decades, Robert Terry has been creating a series of modest but intense portraits of Abraham Lincoln. At first glance, the exhibition suggested a treasure trove of thrift-store finds: 21 clunky, sincere homages to the Civil-War era president. On closer inspection, the paintings revealed a striking consistency of hand, palette and scale. On 20-by-16-inch store-bought canvases (with staples showing around the edges), Lincoln’s head, rendered in multicolored impasto, is centered in monochrome grounds of such unlikely hues as salmon, chartreuse or teal.Each portrait depicts the subject in a frontal or three-quarter view, from the shoulders up, with emphasis given to the droopy-lidded but searing eyes, prominent brow, pursed lips and large ears. Bearded in some instance, clean-shaven in others, Lincoln is invariably shown in a black suit and white shirt with wing collar and black bow tie. Terry, a New York artist, received some attention in the mid-1980s for his gestural land- and seascapes in heavy impasto, works then associated with Neo-Expressionism. The Lincoln series derives from photographic portraits by Mathew Brady and other contemporary practitioners. Titled with the dates of their photographic sources, the paintings were neither painted nor installed chronologically--February 9, 1864, for example, was painted in 1996; Thursday, August 26, 1858 in 2005--so that there is no easy progression based on the tolls of age or history. Monday, August 13, 1860 (2004) depicts a sad but youthful Lincoln against a buttery lavender background. Modeled in tones of yellow and burnt orange, the face is described with slaps of the pallette knife, which pulls the paint up from the surface, while the gleaming black hair is given physical dimension via thick, palpable brushstrokes. With downcast eyes and thick sensuous lips pursed in a slight pout, 1863 (2004) depicts a distracted, utterly introspective Lincoln. His face is yellow-orange with red creases and shadows. Typically, the harshly exaggerated modeling of the flesh bears a complementary coloristic relationship to the ground, which in the case of 1863 is somewhere between pea green and olive drab. Although they were produced a century and a half after their subject’s death, Terry’s paintings provide remarkable insight into Lincoln’s character. As representations of representations, they recall Warhol’s Marilyns, and yet they access the emotional substance rather than the iconic surface of the subject. Unobstructed by popular imagination, Terry’s portraits transform Lincoln the legend into Lincoln the man. opposite: 1863, 2004 oil on canvas 24 x 18 in./61 x 45.7 cm
Frances Colpitt Thank you to Frances Colpitt for allowing us to republish this review which originally appeared in Art in America, October 2005.
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top: February 9, 1864, 1996 oil on canvas 20 x 16 in./50.8 x 40.6 cm
Opposite top: 1863, 2007, oil on canvas, 24 x 18 in./61 x 45.7 cm (left) April 9, 1865 (The Last Portrait), 1996, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in./50.8 x 40.6 cm (right) bottom: Summer of 1860, 2007, oil on canvas, 24 x 18 in./61 x 45.7 cm (left) Monday, April 10, 1865, 2013, oil on canvas, 24 x 18 in./61 x 45.7 cm (right)
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May 8, 1860 (Man of the People), 1995-96 oil on canvas 20 x 16 in./50.8 x 40.6 cm
February 9, 1864, 2005 oil on panel 20 x 16 in./50.8 x 40.6 cm opposite: Sunday, July 11, 1858, 2001 oil on panel 20 x 16 in./50.8 x 40.6 cm
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Summer of 1860, 2007 oil on canvas 24 x 18 in./61 x 45.7 cm 10
opposite: Summer of 1860, 2005 oil on canvas 24 x 18 in./61 x 45.7 cm
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opposite: Summer of 1860, 2006, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in./50.8 x 40.6 cm (left) January 8, 1864, 2005-06, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in./50.8 x 40.6 cm (middle) Friday, May 7, 1858, 2011, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in./50.8 x 40.6 cm (right)
top: Summer of 1860, 2007 oil on canvas 24 x 18 in./61 x 45.7 cm
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February 9, 1864, 2005 oil on panel 20 x 16 in./50.8 x 40.6 cm
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opposite: 1863, 2004 oil on canvas 24 x 18 in./61 x 45.7 cm
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Opposite: February 9, 1864, 1996, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in./50.8 x 40.6 cm (left) January 8, 1864, 2005-06, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in./50.8 x 40.6 cm (middle) Friday, May 7, 1858, 2011, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in./50.8 x 40.6 cm (right)
top: 1863, 2007 oil on canvas 24 x 18 in./61 x 45.7 cm
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Sunday, June 3, 1860, 1995-96 oil on canvas 20 x 16 in./50.8 x 40.6 cm
Monday, April 10, 1865, 2013 oil on canvas 24 x 18 in./61 x 45.7 cm opposite: Summer of 1860, 2007 oil on panel 20 x 16 in./50.8 x 40.6 cm 18
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Catalog published on the occasion of the exhibition
Robert Terry
Eugene Binder 218 North Highland Ave. Marfa, Texas 79843-1632 432.729.3900 eugenebinderart@gmail.com eugenebinder
Front cover: Sunday, June 3, 1860, 2013, oil on panel, 24 x 18 in. Back cover: Early 1865, 2004, oil on panel, 24 x 18 in.
Photography and design: Susanne Maurer Copyright Eugene Binder 2021