A.A. Lamb

American, active 1864 or after

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A woman driving a horse-drawn chariot, an eagle, Abraham Lincoln and soldiers on horseback, and a gathering of countless people gather in front of a columned, domed, white marble building in this horizontal painting. The woman, riders, and soldiers, who wear blue uniforms, to the right have pale skin. About half the people in the crowd to the left have grayish-brown-colored skin, and soldiers wearing gray to the left have pale skin. At the center of the composition, the woman wears a flowing white gown and gold headpiece as she drives a red and gold chariot pulled by two white horses. The chariot bears the word “EMANCIPATION” in red letters across its front. She holds the reins with one extended hand and holds a long, gold trumpet up high with her other hand. A brown eagle flies just overhead. To our right, Abraham Lincoln wears a black suit and sits astride a chestnut-brown horse. Lincoln holds out a scroll with one word legible: “PROCLAMATION.” A man on horseback next to Lincoln has a black handlebar mustache and wears a navy-blue uniform with brass buttons. He holds a United States flag, with the words “LIBERTY TO ALL” tucked among the stars in the blue field. To the right of Lincoln, soldiers in blue uniforms on horseback line up in formation. The frontmost horses trample a torn flag with one white and two red stripes, and a blue field with ten stars. A whip, neck shackles, and a weighted chain lie on the ground nearby. In the crowd representing enslaved people, some hold up their chained hands, kneel, or pray. The soldiers wearing gray also line up, rifle barrels creating a vertical forest of bayonets. Pink-tinged dust rises between the crowd and the US Capitol, which is outlined against a patch of clear, pale-blue sky. Clouds thicken to the left and are streaked with purple, and, to the right, streaks suggest incoming rain. The artist signed the painting as if he had written his name, “A.A. Lamb,” on a rock near the lower right corner.
A.A. Lamb, Emancipation Proclamation, 1864 or after, oil on canvas, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1955.11.10

Emancipation Proclamation

A.A. Lamb · 1864 or after · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1955.11.10

Bibliography

1992

  • Chotner, Deborah, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn. American Naive Paintings. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 241-242.