CIVIL WAR ERA DRAWINGS FROM THE BECKER COLLECTION
1/10
Siege of Petersburg: A Night Attack, Andrew McCallum, 1865
(Graphite on wove paper)
2/10
Confederate Soldiers Taking the Oath of Allegiance, Edward F. Mullen, 1864
(Graphite on heavy gauge wove paper)
3/10
Scene on the Levee at Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Contrabands Discharge the Ammunition From the U.S. Transport North Star, Francis H. Schell, 1863
(Graphite on wove paper)
4/10
Evening Amusement of the Coloured Servants and Contrabands
During the Siege of Petersburg, Joseph Becker,1864
(Graphite with charcoal on wove paper)
5/10
Siege of Petersburg: Charge Into the Crater, Andrew McCallum, 1864
(Graphite on heavy wove paper)
6/10
Rebel Calvary Officers Driving Back the Skulkers,
Francis H. Schell, 1862
(Graphite on wove paper)
7/10
Battle of Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee:
Centre, Sunday Morning, Henri Lovie, 1862
(Graphite on wove paper)
8/10
Assassination of Colonel Ellsworth, Arthur Lumley, 1861
(Graphite on wove paper)
9/10
Negro Worship in the South: Taking Up the Collection,
Joseph Becker , n.d.
(Graphite and white gouache on toned paper)
10/10
Railroad Pass with Chinese Workers, Joseph Becker, 1869-70
(White gouache and graphite on toned paper)
Curated by Sheila Gallagher and Judith Bookbinder
The Becker Archive contains approximately 650 hitherto unexhibited and undocumented drawings by Joseph Becker and his colleagues, nineteenth-century artists who worked as artist-reporters for Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper observing, drawing, and sending back for publication images of the Civil War, the construction of the railroads, the laying of the transatlantic cable in Ireland, the Chinese in the West, the Indian wars, the Chicago fire, and other aspects of nineteenth-century American culture.
There has been no major exhibition or scholarly survey featuring Civil War drawings since the 1961 centennial, and at that time the Becker Collection had not yet come to light. Civil War Era Drawings from the Becker Collection is the first opportunity for scholars and enthusiasts to see selections from this important and unknown collection and appreciate these national treasures as artworks.
By creating accurate combat sketches drawn not from their imagination, but from close, on the spot observation, [civil war sketch artists] caught the action and evoked the drama of being there, in the midst of war. Their genius as visual reporters was expressed in their ability to identify the focal point of a scene quickly, blocking out the composition with telling details in minutes, and fleshing it out later that night while their memories were still fresh.
— Harry Katz, former Curator of Prints and Drawings of the Library of Congress
The “first-hand” drawings selected for this exhibition, most of which have never been published, document in lively and specific ways key developments in the history of America as it struggled to establish its national identity.
Civil War Era Drawings from the Becker Collection is curated by Judith Bookbinder and Sheila Gallagher and circulated by CATE. An exhibition of drawings from the Becker Collection premiered at the McMullen Museum at Boston College in the exhibition First Hand: Civil War Era Drawings from the Becker Collection, which was organized by the McMullen Museum and underwritten by Boston College and Patrons of the McMullen Museum.
View Marketing Booklet (PDF)
Number of Works: 126
Frame Sizes: Various
Space Requirements: 350-400 linear feet (120 linear meters)
Tour Dates: Summer 2009 – 2015
Participation Fee: Medium ($10,000 - $20,000)
Support Materials:
Publication: University of Chicago Press, 2009.
Curator Dr. Judith Bookbinder available for lecture.
Contact CATE for more information.
REVIEWS AND NEWS
UNC-TV, February 16, 2012
Star News Online, Ben Steelman, January 31, 2012
Chic Cityrats, Sam Dambert, March 30, 2011
The Art Newspaper, Helen Stoilas and Javier Pes, February 03, 2011
Richmond Times-Dispatch, Roy Proctor, January 09, 2011
New York Times, Eve Kahn, Antiques Columnist, January 06, 2011
CBS 6, Antoinette Essa, January 06, 2011
Civil War Times, Helen Hannon, February 2010
Boston Globe, Sebastian Smee, October 02, 2009