Abraham Lincoln Art Gallery. ComLincoln's Spirit Essays on Art, Sculpture, and Abraham Lincoln By Bronze Portrait and Figure Sculptor James J. Nance
Sculptor James Nance's search for Abraham Lincoln's spirit for his famous twin bronze portraits "Immortal Conscience" and "Prairie Lawyer."
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Artist Essays
Essay 2 of 10
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In Search of Abraham Lincoln's Spirit
When Mr. Lincoln moved from Springfield to Washington D.C., the nation was moving into war. During the next four years, the face of Abraham Lincoln became a mirror of the soul of the nation, indelibly etched with the turmoil of a struggling democracy. In a very real sense, Mr. Lincoln's physical, emotional, and intellectual transformation paralleled the transformation of America. Yet for all these changes, he was still the same man-the practical prairie lawyer from Illinois. Abraham Lincoln may have been the only man alive who could have presided over the Civil War to reunite the nation and abolish slavery. Why was he different, what aspects of his character gave him the uncanny ability to weigh the past, present, and future, to clearly see both sides of any issue and to arrive at a common sense solution? Why, above all others, did he posses the self reliance and determination to see the job through? What were Mr. Lincoln's hopes and aspirations, his agonies and torments? These are the questions I ask myself every time I view his face. When I tried to capture the spirit and character of this great man, I realized that since both periods of his life were so intimately intertwined, two portraits- attorney and president- were necessary to fulfill my vision of Mr. Lincoln. Only through two portraits could I show the transition and the struggle, the strength and the triumph, and the mortal cost of that triumph. The resulting twin portraits are therefore spiritually, artistically, and intellectually bonded as a single work. When both portraits are experienced together, the viewer can feel the pressures and changes which molded Lincoln's destiny and the destiny of America. I hope that these portraits will contribute artistically to a more intimate understanding of Mr. Lincoln. In honor of all all that they represent, I have called them: A Portrait of Transition: "Prairie Lawyer" and "Immortal Conscience." |
As a member of the Abraham Lincoln
Association and the Lincoln Forum, and a life long
Lincoln Admirer, I have long desired to create an original portrait tribute to
this great American. As the project developed, I realized that the key to
understanding President Lincoln's personality lay in appreciating his
development as a "Prairie Lawyer." His early political career
and his years of tireless work as an attorney, defending the Constitution and
the common man, laid the foundation of his strong character and political integrity
that would guide President Lincoln through the most difficult period in our
nation's history.
