Cenotaph to Three Martyred Presidents1925–194038 x 31 3/4 x 1 3/4 " (96.5 x 80.6 x 4.4 cm)Wood with photographic images on paperGift of the Hirschhorn Foundation1997.6.511538222385Artist unidentifiedSculptureUnited StatesThree Dimensional WorkseMuseum - Collection Highlights
This cenotaph commemorates the assassinations of presidents Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley. Published photographs of each president by esteemed photographers Alexander Gardner, Edward Bierstadt, and Frederick Gutekunst top three columns of densely packed block letters. The letters name each president and spell out his date of birth, date that he was shot, and date that he died. The plaque is crowned by two opposing American flags, the whole made in a combination of two techniques: inlay, in which wood veneers are embedded into a wood foundation, and parquetry, in which the surface is embellished with an overlay of wood veneers in geometric shapes with straight edges. A tremendous outpouring of grief ensued after the deaths of each of these presidents, and it is possible that this tribute was made to mark a landmark anniversary of one of the assassinations, which occurred in 1865, 1881, and 1901, respectively. It may also have been a patriotic expression of remembrance inspired by the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which was celebrated in 1926 in Philadelphia with a World’s Fair Exposition.
The circumstances of Lincoln’s assassination are well known. President Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau (1841–1882), less than four months into his presidency. Guiteau was a delusional man who believed he had helped Garfield win the office and expected to be rewarded with a government appointment. When his supplications were repeatedly ignored, he plotted to kill the president, bringing his plan to fruition in 1881, when he shot Garfield at point-blank range in the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station as the president was embarking on his summer vacation. Garfield lingered into the fall and might have survived had he received better medical care. Inventor Alexander Graham Bell even devised a metal-detecting device to trace the bullet that was still lodged in his body, but the physicians only allowed it to be used on one side of the president’s body—the wrong side. Garfield died of sepsis, his wound probed by unwashed hands that also further damaged his internal organs.
President McKinley was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz (1873–1901) while attending a reception at the Temple of Music during his visit to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. Czolgosz had lost his job during the Panic of 1893. In his despair, he turned to anarchism, influenced by the example of European anarchists who used assassination as a means of eliminating oppressive foreign leaders. He came to view the president in this light, and McKinley’s handshaking public reception granted the opportunity to carry out his deadly plan. The president’s visit to the exposition had been filmed using Thomas Edison’s early process to produce moving images. After McKinley’s death, Edison created a mourning film titled Martyred Presidents, which showed photographic images of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley fading in and out of a tomblike structure, a figure of mourning with bowed head sitting on the steps, and ending with blind justice brandishing scales and a sword.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Cenotaph to Three Martyred Presidents, c. 1926" exhibition copy for American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2020.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgThe eccentrically shaped frame may represent rays of light emanating from Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley, whose portraits are shown. Incorporated into the design are two American Flags, each with 16 stars, clearly an abbreviation. 9 straight lines, like the lines of a school pad, inlaid below the portraits, extend from one side of the panel to the other. On them are brief inscriptions in simple upper case letters, also inlaid. They appear as follows and are to be read vertically: ABRAHAM JAMES A WILLIAM LINCOLN GARFILD McKINLEY BORN FEB BORN NOV BORN JAN 12 1809 19 1831 29 1843 SHOT SHOT JULY SHOT APRIL 14 2 1881 SEPT 1865 DIED SEPT 1901 DIED 15 19 1881 DIED SEPT APRIL 1865 14 1901 The rows of letters and numerals are packed so closely together that Garfield's name had to be shortened to Garfild to make room for full spellings or Lincoln and McKinley. In the unsophisticated originality of its design, the direct simplicity of its images and words, and the sincere patriotism that motivated it, this plaque ranks as one of the outstanding masterpieces of American folk marquetryThis plaque commemorates the assassinations of presidents Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley. Made using a combination of techniques, including parquetry and inlay, it frames photographic images of the three martyred presidents. Closely packed columns of block letters are inlaid below the images of the presidents and spell out their dates of birth, the dates they were shot, and the dates they died. Two opposing American flags crown the plaque. A tremendous outpouring of grief ensued after the deaths of each of these leaders, and it is likely that this tribute was made to mark a landmark anniversary of one of the assassinations, which occurred in 1865, 1888, and 1901, respectively.
McKinley was shot while visiting the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. His tour of the exposition had been filmed using Thomas Edison’s early process to produce moving images. After McKinley’s death, Edison created a mourning film entitled The Martyred Presidents, which showed photographic images of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley fading in and out of a tomblike structure. Although it would seem likely that the cenotaph was made soon after 1901, the angularity of the form and the rayed effects relate most strongly to decorative arts made during the Art Deco period, suggesting it was made after 1925.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Cenotaph to Three Martyred Presidents," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 371—372.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org19251940 1997 6 5
This cenotaph commemorates the assassinations of presidents Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley. Published photographs of each president by esteemed photographers Alexander Gardner, Edward Bierstadt, and Frederick Gutekunst top three columns of densely packed block letters. The letters name each president and spell out his date of birth, date that he was shot, and date that he died. The plaque is crowned by two opposing American flags, the whole made in a combination of two techniques: inlay, in which wood veneers are embedded into a wood foundation, and parquetry, in which the surface is embellished with an overlay of wood veneers in geometric shapes with straight edges. A tremendous outpouring of grief ensued after the deaths of each of these presidents, and it is possible that this tribute was made to mark a landmark anniversary of one of the assassinations, which occurred in 1865, 1881, and 1901, respectively. It may also have been a patriotic expression of remembrance inspired by the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which was celebrated in 1926 in Philadelphia with a World’s Fair Exposition.
The circumstances of Lincoln’s assassination are well known. President Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau (1841–1882), less than four months into his presidency. Guiteau was a delusional man who believed he had helped Garfield win the office and expected to be rewarded with a government appointment. When his supplications were repeatedly ignored, he plotted to kill the president, bringing his plan to fruition in 1881, when he shot Garfield at point-blank range in the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station as the president was embarking on his summer vacation. Garfield lingered into the fall and might have survived had he received better medical care. Inventor Alexander Graham Bell even devised a metal-detecting device to trace the bullet that was still lodged in his body, but the physicians only allowed it to be used on one side of the president’s body—the wrong side. Garfield died of sepsis, his wound probed by unwashed hands that also further damaged his internal organs.
President McKinley was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz (1873–1901) while attending a reception at the Temple of Music during his visit to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. Czolgosz had lost his job during the Panic of 1893. In his despair, he turned to anarchism, influenced by the example of European anarchists who used assassination as a means of eliminating oppressive foreign leaders. He came to view the president in this light, and McKinley’s handshaking public reception granted the opportunity to carry out his deadly plan. The president’s visit to the exposition had been filmed using Thomas Edison’s early process to produce moving images. After McKinley’s death, Edison created a mourning film titled Martyred Presidents, which showed photographic images of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley fading in and out of a tomblike structure, a figure of mourning with bowed head sitting on the steps, and ending with blind justice brandishing scales and a sword.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Cenotaph to Three Martyred Presidents, c. 1926" exhibition copy for American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2020.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgThe eccentrically shaped frame may represent rays of light emanating from Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley, whose portraits are shown. Incorporated into the design are two American Flags, each with 16 stars, clearly an abbreviation. 9 straight lines, like the lines of a school pad, inlaid below the portraits, extend from one side of the panel to the other. On them are brief inscriptions in simple upper case letters, also inlaid. They appear as follows and are to be read vertically: ABRAHAM JAMES A WILLIAM LINCOLN GARFILD McKINLEY BORN FEB BORN NOV BORN JAN 12 1809 19 1831 29 1843 SHOT SHOT JULY SHOT APRIL 14 2 1881 SEPT 1865 DIED SEPT 1901 DIED 15 19 1881 DIED SEPT APRIL 1865 14 1901 The rows of letters and numerals are packed so closely together that Garfield's name had to be shortened to Garfild to make room for full spellings or Lincoln and McKinley. In the unsophisticated originality of its design, the direct simplicity of its images and words, and the sincere patriotism that motivated it, this plaque ranks as one of the outstanding masterpieces of American folk marquetryThis plaque commemorates the assassinations of presidents Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley. Made using a combination of techniques, including parquetry and inlay, it frames photographic images of the three martyred presidents. Closely packed columns of block letters are inlaid below the images of the presidents and spell out their dates of birth, the dates they were shot, and the dates they died. Two opposing American flags crown the plaque. A tremendous outpouring of grief ensued after the deaths of each of these leaders, and it is likely that this tribute was made to mark a landmark anniversary of one of the assassinations, which occurred in 1865, 1888, and 1901, respectively.
McKinley was shot while visiting the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. His tour of the exposition had been filmed using Thomas Edison’s early process to produce moving images. After McKinley’s death, Edison created a mourning film entitled The Martyred Presidents, which showed photographic images of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley fading in and out of a tomblike structure. Although it would seem likely that the cenotaph was made soon after 1901, the angularity of the form and the rayed effects relate most strongly to decorative arts made during the Art Deco period, suggesting it was made after 1925.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Cenotaph to Three Martyred Presidents," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 371—372.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org