Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln's last and best choice to command the Union forces in the Civil War, knits his brow and stares past the camera as he poses at his Virginia headquarters for a photograph. Grant's pose is reminiscent of Brady's renowned studio portraits of illustrious dignitaries. Here, a tree fills in for the iton posing stand, and the folds of the campaign tent replace the studio's velvet drapery.

Brady put his money and reputation on the line to create a visual record of the Civil War, but he hired experienced operators to do most of the dirty work in the field. He displayed his images of the war's protagonists and its grisly carnage in his New York City and Washington D.C. studios, and popular newspapers and magazines of the day reproduced them as engravings.

After the war Brady fell into financial ruin and eventually lost possession of the glass-plate negatives he treasured.

Brady was not entirely the combat photographer he claimed to be, but he made history as the sponsor of America's first important documentary project.

Source: The American Art Book (Mini Edition)

Mathew Brady Art Prints at Allposters.com

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