One of four paintings in my Assassinated Presidents series, this portrait honors Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States and the first to be assassinated. Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865, at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., and died the following morning. The painting is cropped tightly on his face, capturing the depth, character, and quiet tragedy of a man history still reveres.
Lincoln’s face is built for portraiture: a solid, direct gaze, deep-set eyes, and features shaped by the weight of a difficult presidency. I cropped the composition tightly around his eyes and expression, a choice that makes the piece unmistakably Lincoln even without the rest of the frame. The painting began, like the others in the Assassinated Presidents series, as a non-objective underpainting of bold brushstrokes, drips, and polka dots in black and white, built up in countless thin layers until the final portrait emerged, still showing traces of the texture beneath.
